Misfits
by Joker6623
Summary: The 213th Misfits Squadron is known throughout the Fleet as a place for the rejects and unwanted. The pilots, especially Lieutenant Lee Hawley, want nothing more than to serve their enlistments and get out. Once the war begins, the Misfits are thrust into the fighting and through a series of extreme events they become the most experienced and revered pilots in the entire Fleet.
1. Chapter 1

**Misfits: Chapter One **

**Goath, Aerilon. Good Morning**, **Aerilon**

The camera man counted down the seconds until they were live on the air. The woman put on her TV smile as the countdown reached zero. "Good morning, Aerilon. I'm Ellie Bordeaux and welcome to this morning's show. We've got some special guests here today for you as this month is turning out to be a very extraordinary one. Wouldn't you say, Mark?"

Her co-host, Mark Cannan, smiled while looking to the camera. "This month has been an interesting one indeed, Ellie. The two Battlestars _Arcadia_ and _Galactica_ are being decommissioned, sending the two oldest ships in the active Fleet out of the service. With us here in the studio is retired Commander Cassandra Greene, the first Executive Officer of the Battlestar _Arcadia_ during the Cylon War, and later its commanding officer during the years following the war. It's an honor to have you here, Commander Greene. I'd just like to start by saying thank you for your long years of service and dedication to us all."

"It's a pleasure to be here." Commander Greene said, nodding to the camera.

"Commander, could you tell us a little bit about these two aging ships?" Ellie asked.

"I'd be more than happy to, Ellie. The Battlestar _Arcadia_, one of the largest and most powerful ships of her time, saw action during the Cylon War, being present for many key victories on the Colonial side including both Battles of Tuaron, the Battle of the Ereobos Asteroid Belt, and of course,the Battle of Hestia where she was credited with four ship to ship kills. The ship was cited with more than a dozen military honors, and by the end of the war her crew claimed to have the most ace pilots of any other ship throughout the war. Also, I may add, it was on the Battlestar _Arcadia_ that the Cimtar Peace Accords were held, bringing the Colonials and Cylons to the Armistice that ended the war, showing that the _Arcadia_ is not only capable of waging war, but also of bringing peace to the Colonies."

"It truly is a magnificent ship with a rich history." Ellie remarked to the Commander.

Mark nodded in agreement. "I'd say so. Commander, could you tell us about the Battlestar _Galactica_?"

"Of course! The Battlestar _Galactica_, as most people know, was dubbed the Hero of Caprica during the Cylon War. She proved to be a very resilient ship as she engaged in multiple operations across the Colonies. The _Galactica_ continued to fight the Cylons even up until the last day of the war, receiving the news that the Armistice had been signed in the middle of her last combat operation."

"We've all been hearing about what's to happen to these two ships once they're retired and decommissioned, but why don't you refresh our memories one more time, Ellie?"

"Sure! The old warhorse _Galactica_ will be retired and made into a living museum ship that will follow her history throughout the entire Cylon War. Secretary of Education Laura Roslin will be making an address to the Colonies from the ship along with her last commanding officer, Commander William Adama. You can catch those both live here later tonight. As for the _Arcadia_, she is to be sent to the reserve fleet where military officials are saying that it will become a training vessel for the future generations of Colonial officers. Her last commanding officer, Admiral Rick Tyros, is sending her out with a bang, too, Mark. The Admiral is hosting one of the largest military banquets that the Colonial Flee has seen in a very long time in honor of the great Battlestar's long and distinguished service to the Colonies. Anyone who's anyone in the political spotlight should be in attendance tonight_–_ chief among them all is President Richard Adar, who will be making an address to the current and past crew members of the aging Battlestar."

"Should be a spectacular sight to see." Mark said.

Nodding in agreement, Ellie commented."Oh, it should be quiet impressive."

"If I'm not mistaken, you're set to be at the banquet are you not?" Mark asked with a smile.

"Yes, I am." Ellie laughed.

"Well, it should be a good night, then! I know all of us here will be jealous of you as we watch the address from studio. Anyway, we're going to go to break now, but when we get back we'll be talking to Doctor Giaus Baltar, the lead defense system developer for the Colonial Fleet and an advocate for the continuation of study into the field of artificial intelligence."

**Battlestar **_**Arcadia**_**, Recreation Center**

"Ten says you miss." Lieutenant Garrett Westbrook placed ten cubits on a small table that he sat at. Across from him, Lieutenant Lee Hawley rolled the pyramid ball in his hands, pondering the bet and looking around the recreation center. A pair of pilots sparring on the boxing mats, beating away on one another as they trained their close quarter combat. Beyond them was a row of ten treadmills, but only one was being used at the moment. One oversized deck hand grunted loudly as he benched pressed more than Lee could even imagine moving. The man's spotter cheered him on, and Lee couldn't help but keep his eyes on the man as he hefted the huge load again and again. "Are you going to take the bet or not?" Garrett asked once again impatiently.

"Yeah, I'll take the frakking bet." Lee stood and moved to the edge of the room, gripping the pyramid ball once again. Taking a deep breath and cocking back his arm, he launched the small ball at the small goal on the far side of the room. The ball smashed against the side and ricocheted off across the room toward the boxing mat. The ball struck one of the two sparring pilots, who he recognized from the little yelp he let out as Ensign Miles Thompson. The junior pilot cursed as the ball knocked him off balance, allowing the other fighter to catch him square in the jaw.

"What the frak was that?" he yelled, picking himself up off the floor. Garrett laughed loudly behind him at the Ensign's misfortunes. "Frak off, Jackle."

"Next time keep your hands up." Garrett mockingly put his hands up as if to deflect a punch, and Thompson pulled off his sparring gloves, throwing them to the ground angrily. "Looks like Baby has a little bit of a temper today, doesn't he, Lucky."

"You know I hate that Gods damn name, so don't frakking use it. I've requested to be called Gambit," Thompson said angrily.

"Frak that, when you get rid of that baby fat around your face maybe we'll start calling you Gambit."

"I don't have baby fat!" The pilot squeaked, and the two Lieutenants busted out laughing. Even his sparring partner and closest friend, Ensign Carl Halbert, started laughing. The kid really had no chance when he came to the _Arcadia_. His little chubby cheeks were the first thing that the older pilots noticed when they thought about giving him a call sign. He hated it but couldn't shake it no matter what he did. "You're all assholes, you know that?"

"You're just now figuring this out, Baby? We're the Misfits, apparently we're all assholes and rejects." Hawley said, retrieving the pyramid ball from the other side of the room. It was true; the _Arcadia_ housed several squadrons of Vipers, one of which was the 213th "Misfits" Viper Squadron. The Misfits were a group of pilots who had seen court martials and faced expulsion from the military, but were good enough at what they did to be kept around. As for Lee, he might have accidentally struck a superior officer while only slightly intoxicated the day before shore leave. During the court martial hearing, he was a breath away from being dishonorably discharged, but his commanding officer had spoken on his behalf that he could still be an asset to the Viper Corps. The hearing ended with a demotion and a reassignment to the Misfits. Not the worst, but certainly not ideal.

Baby threw his gloves to the ground and stormed out of the rec room with Halbert scrambling to catch up with him. "Frakking nuggets," Hawley remarked as the two junior pilots left. Jackal grinned wildly as the two left, and Lucky only pushed him away. "I'm not paying you."

Garrett frowned and slugged him hard in the shoulder, backing up playfully with his fists raised. "You cheap bastard."

Hawley took the hit and slapped at Westbrook's head, but missed, putting his own hands up to defend. "I know I'm cheap. Hell, I'm in the military. I don't have any frakking money." The two men laughed as they sparred together.

Garrett took another swing, but it was slow and lazy due to the fake fight's nature, and he was able to easily duck under it. "You would if you'd stop sending it all home to your woman."

"Frak off," he said and grinned as the other pilot dropped his guard for a moment, and he hit him hard in the chest.

Garrett sucked in hard and took the hit like it was nothing. He was easily twice Hawley's size and twice as strong too, so the hit was nothing. "I'm just saying, you can give all your money to your girl back home, but you can't spare a little for your brother right here?"

Jackal dove for his feet to go for a take down, and Lee tried to sidestep away from the oncoming danger, but it was too late. He grabbed his legs and threw him down onto the padded mats with a massive thump. Lee sucked in hard as the wind was knocked from him from the landing. He frantically tried to wrap his legs around the larger pilot to protect himself, but Garrett, was far too strong for Lee, broke his advantage and placed him into an arm bar with relative ease. Lee cursed under his breath as Garrett raised his hips and increased pressure on his arm causing pain to shoot through his body. That was it. He quickly tapped out, and Garrett released him.

Panting, the two men stood up, and the Jackal had a wide grin on his face. "Gods, I hate you sometimes, Jack," he said, pushing him slightly away.

Still grinning, he outstretched his hand to take the money. "Nah, you love me all the time."

Lee slapped the cubits down into his outstretched hand and made for the doorway. "Come on, the one who signs the paychecks touches down in about two hours. Can't be looking shabby for him."

"I don't know what you're talking about_–_ I always look good."

"I really don't know why I keep a narcissistic asshole like you around."

"It's because of my charm and good looks."

"Fair enough. Now, get your self-loving ass to the quarters." Hawley more or less kicked his wingman in the rear end to push him through the door. He knew it was going to be a long day, but he really had no idea what was coming.

**Battlestar **_**Arcadia**_**, Port Side Hanger Deck 1**

"All hands prepare for the arrival of Colonial One." The sound from the speakers blared across the hangar deck.

"Let's go people! Form up!" Commander Kendra Turner yelled as the stragglers moved into the ranks.

Lee looked down the long line of officers and crewmen who awaited the arrival of the President. _Galactica_ might be going into retirement as well, but her commander certainly didn't have enough pull with the higher-ups to get anyone of a real name aboard. She wasn't actually being retired, rather being sent into the reserve fleet to become a training vessel for the future generations of pilots and crewmen, but she would no longer be seeing anymore combat. There had been rumors that the Picon Military Institute planned to move almost all of their cadets to the _Arcadia_ once she was refitted and therefore meld the school and ship into one. He couldn't really see the massive ship as a school, but if that's what the Admiralty wanted then that's what would happen.

The Lieutenant stepped into the ranks behind the Executive Officer of the ship. "Has anyone ever told you that you're such a smooth talker, Commander?"

"Shut it, Hawley." She growled without looking behind her.

The Misfits laughed as she called the reception to attention while Colonial One's ramp lowered from the underside of the ship. A pair of marines in full dress uniform stood at either side of the lowered ramp. President Richard Adar stepped down from the ramp first,and the pair of marines saluted smartly, only to have the politician throw up a salute in a non-military fashion as he usually did. Behind him, the first family emerged and followed the president. Admiral Rick Tyros stepped out of the formation and saluted him. The two exchanged a few words, laughed and then made their way toward the exit of the hanger.

The crew that had been assembled stood baffled by what had transpired. Most were expecting a few words from the President or even a speech, but there was nothing. Just their Commander-in-Chief and the Admiral leaving together. Lee glanced over to his two wingmen. "Well, that's not what I was expecting."

Garrett laughed loudly enough to draw few looks his way. "No kidding, so much for a presidential visit." Another glance back from Commander Turner quieted down the man. She was a harsh XO, but she had sort of a soft spot for the Misfits, and they all knew it. She might ride them, harass them, and give them every frakked up boring assignment she could, but at the end of the day, it was the Misfits that Commander Turner sought out in the recreation room.

The rest of the president's entourage began exiting the ship, and Lee craned his neck to look over the front rank of the crew. Now, a pair of large passenger transports were being towed down from the flight deck to the hanger. The crew, dressed in their gray dress uniforms, was dismissed as the president was escorted off of the deck, but most of them stuck around for the passenger transports. All officers and senior NCOs had been allowed the opportunity to bring aboard one date for the ball that the Admiral was putting on, and each one that had taken the opportunity was now eagerly awaiting their arrival.

One by one, each of the dates filed through the last bit of security that they were required to go through and sent onto their crewman. Hawley waited anxiously for his fiancé as he stood next to Garrett. Finally, he saw her as she passed by the pair of marines at the security. The curls in her dark brown hair bounced slightly as she looked up to him with her soft blue eyes. She smiled when their eyes connected and they nearly ran to meet one another. They embraced, and he pulled her in close as they hugged. "I missed you, babe," he said into her ear in almost a whisper.

His fiancé, Ellie Bordeaux, smiled as she looked up at him. "I missed you, too. I hate it when you're deployed, you know that."

"I know, but it's almost over." She moved in and squeezed him again as if they this was the last time that they would see one another.

They held their embrace for a moment longer before Garrett cleared his throat next to them. "I hope I'm interrupting something here," he said with a wry grin on his face, and Ellie walked over to the man and hugged him as well.

"You always are, Garrett." She stepped away from him and turned to the woman who had followed Ellie off of the freighter. "And may I introduce you to your date, Yasmina Melendez."

The other woman, a slender brown-skinned woman with dark eyes and hair smiled as she stepped forward.

Garrett grinned as he made a small bow to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yasmina."

Ellie slapped him hard on the shoulder, making him jump. "And you treat her right, Garrett, or you'll have to deal with me."

Garrett stared at her for a moment before looking over to Lee.

He shook his head and laughed. "Don't look at me. You heard the woman."

Garrett looked back to Ellie and smiled. "Don't worry. I always treat the ladies right."

"That's what they all say," she said in a mock serious tone. "But I'll be watching you."

Yasmina put her hand on Ellie's shoulder and brushed past her. "Don't worry, Ell, I can handle him myself." She had a devilish smile that made Garrett grin as she took his hand and led him away.

"Tonight should be interesting," Lee said as he took his fiancé by the arm and led her away from the crowds. "It should be interesting indeed."

**Battlestar **_**Arcadia**_**, Starboard Hanger Deck 1**

Speeches, toasts, recognitions and then more toasts. It was a long service, but all the boring parts were finally over and they could get to the decent part of the night. The meal they'd been served was very eloquent and quite good, and the speaker hadn't been half bad. President Adar even made the speech that they were expecting him to make upon his arrival, so most of the officers and crew weren't grumbling too much. It was short, but it was the fact that he even made a speech that made it special.

Now, most of the rank and anyone who was important were glad-handing one another, wishing each other luck on their next assignment or giving congratulations on a promotion. The junior officers and enlisted were left to themselves for the most part. Many began taking to the dance floor as the soft, slow music started to play. Lee stood up from his seat and offered his fiancé his hand. "Shall we?"

She smiled softly and took his hand while he led her to the floor.

Lee took her by the hips, and she wrapped her arms around his neck while they swayed to the music. More people took to the floor and soon, much of the large hanger deck was filled with dancing couples.

"You look gorgeous tonight, Lee said.

A small smile flashed across her face, and she cocked her head to the side a bit. "Flatterer."

The Lieutenant returned the smile and moved in for a kiss. "I might be, but it still doesn't change the fact."

She kissed him back softly.

The two turned in silence for a moment. "How's she?" He finally asked her, and she pulled away slightly to look him in the eyes. She really was beautiful, he thought to himself, her dark auburn hair and deep blue eyes stopped the man's heart each time he saw her.

"She's good." Ellie smiled at the thought of her daughter. "She's getting to be a little wild, though. I can't imagine where she gets it," she said playfully and then moved in closer to the man, placing her head on his shoulder as they danced.

Hawley smiled to himself. "Couldn't be me, you know I'm far too tame for that."

"Oh, yeah?" She giggled a little, and as she did so he pulled her in a little tighter. He rarely got to see her unless he was on leave, and he wanted to savor each moment here. "Says the crazy fighter jock." She mocked him and then moved on before he could come back at her. "She's with my sister right now down on Aerilon. They should be leaving for Picon in the morning."

Sighing deeply, he somewhat wished he hadn't asked about his daughter. In truth, he'd only been able to see his daughter once since the day she was born almost a year ago, and that was nearly seven months back. He missed her far too much and speaking about her only made him miss her more, but seeing her mother and his fiancé made it a little better. "I miss her," he said quietly.

Again, Ellie pulled back and looked at him. "I know you do, and I wish I could have brought her to see you."

"Only seventeen more months," he said in a half-laugh half-serious tone. That was when his contract was up, and he had no intentions of renewing it. His career was more or less stalled since the court martial and he knew that the Navy was a dead end. He'd done his service and he was ready to get out.

She smiled at him. "And then you'll come home to me?"

The klaxon screeched. The sound echoed throughout the deck, and everyone freeze in their tracks. Ellie covered her ears at the noise and looked to him, "What is that?" she asked.

"Action stations, action stations! All hands set condition one throughout the ship! This is not a drill! I say again action stations, action stations! All hands set condition one throughout the ship! This is not a drill!" Hawley pushed away from his fiancé and looked around at the other stunned officers and NCOs. Slowly, some began moving, but most just clung closely to their significant others as if to try and protect them. "Launch all alert Vipers! I say again launch all alert Vipers!"

That was his cue. He might hate it, but if there was something big enough going on to scramble the _Arcadia's_ Vipers, then he had to be there. "I've got to go! Stay here!" He told Ellie, kissed her and turned for the exit of the hangar. Most of the higher rank still milled about as the pilots and deck gang pushed to make it out of the hangar.

The pilot took off down the corridors to the clear port flight deck. Dozens of pilots and crewmen filled the halls, pushing and shoving to make it to their action stations. Once he was on the flight deck, he made his way over to the Chief of the Deck. "Chief what the frak is happening?"

The man shook his head, "No one knows, sir, but the alert Vipers are already away. I don't have any spare Vipers either. The Misfits are grounded for now."

"Grounded?" Captain Sara Hart came up behind him.

It took him more than a second to recognize his squadron leader in the long dress gown that she had worn for the ball. She'd already pulled her heels off and was working on the earrings as they spoke.

"Chief where the frak are all the Vipers?"

He grunted loudly at the officers. "In storage in Starboard 2, there's no way for me to get to them now." The Chief turned and began to walk away from the Misfits, yelling to some deck goons who were loading a Viper.

The Captain grabbed his arm before he could get too far away and spun him around. Even Lee cringed a little at the look she shot him. "Gods damn it, Chief, there has to be at least some Vipers!" The two held their staring contest for a few more seconds.

"There isn't, sir, unless you want to fly those old training MK VIs." The Chief pointed to a group of covered Vipers near the end of the deck. Both Lee and Garrett laughed at that. There was no way they'd fly training ships.

The Captain let the Chief's arm go with a little push. "Fuel and arm them now, Chief_–_I want them ready to fly." –Or maybe not. Both pilots took a step forward toward their squadron leader, but she was already on her way to the pilot lockers for flight suits. They'd be horribly outclassed flying training Vipers in a dog fight.

She pulled open one of the lockers and instantly slipped out of her dress. Both stopped for a second before Garrett finally stepped forward. "You've got to be frakking with us, Captain. Training MK VIs?"

She pulled her underclothes on and started with the flight suit. "Do I look like I am? Get suited up."

Reluctantly the two men began stripping their dress uniforms off and replacing them with their flight suits.

"Gods damn it," Garrett said as the two finished suiting up. "I knew we should have taken the leave."

"Yeah, we royally frakked up." Lee grabbed his gloves and helmet before making for their training Vipers. "I could be sitting on a beautiful beach on Aerilon right now, but no. We're under attack or some shit like that."

"Just another day in the frakking Navy." Ensign Lucas "Villain" Metz, a fellow Misfit, called out as he jumped into his Viper.

_Amen to that._

"Looks like the Misfits are rolling in the trainers today," Ensign Thompson yelled as he boarded his new MK VII.

Garrett dropped his head before grabbing a hold of the MK VI's ladder. "This is frakking humiliating."

"No shit, just shut up and stick with me." Lee climbed up the ladder and dropped down into the Viper's cockpit. He'd logged hundreds of hours in these trainers but hated getting back into it. It didn't have the same feel as the MK VII. Despite being an advanced interceptor, it was still sluggish and not optimized for engagements other than training exercises. He'd have a hell of a time if he got into a fight. "Has any word come down on why they're scrambling us?"

"Couldn't just be a shipping accident. They wouldn't scramble us for that. You think it's pirates?"

"They'd be getting ballsy if they'd come in this close to the Colonies."

"We'll know soon enough."

As if on cue, the PA sounded throughout the deck, making the crew freeze. "All hands enemy fighters are four minutes out. Cylon contacts confirmed."

Lee's heart skipped a beat. _Cylons_?

"What! Cylons? They're frakking with us man. I know they are," Garrett yelled.

"I don't think so." Lee's Viper was shoved into the tube as follow on reports were brought up. The entire battle-group was being scrambled now. Four Mercury-Class Battlestars and their entire Viper complement. This ought to be a new sight.

"_This is the Battlestar Rollins–we're preparing to engage now. We're counting no more than sixty fighters standby_."

It was the fleetcomm wireless that played now. The _Rollins_ was fresh off the line with two hundred Vipers that would no doubt be on the line ready to engage. The one thing that puzzled him was the number of Cylon fighters. Sixty Raiders on a full battle-group? It was virtual suicide.

"_All squadrons, you are weapons free. I repeat weapons free."_ The wireless cut off from the _Rollin's_ CAG. It was eerily quiet for the next few moments, as if the entire battle-group awaited the next movements of the Cylons.

The communications exploded with chatter. "_What the frak! They're drifting_!"

"_Rollins! Engage those Raiders! Rollins?"_

The calls over the wireless were so frantic that Lee could no longer decipher what was happening outside the tubes. The launch clock still put him at forty-five seconds until he and his wing were out. The seconds ticked away like minutes, each one taking longer than the last.

"_First line is down– I repeat first line is down! This is the Battlestar Arrow we're engaging now."_

"Did you hear that? They took out the frakking _Rollins_, man." Garrett became hysterical, which was beyond the worst mindset you could have going into combat. _Just get me out there. Just let me take a shot at them._ _No more waiting, just let me see what's happening for myself_. Finally, the launch clock hit zero. It was time for the Misfits to get out there.

The Vipers blasted out of the tubes into a scene of utter chaos. "Battlestars _Arrow, Rollins and Hyperion _are all down! I repeat, all Battlestars are down!" The _Arcadia_, dwarfing the three other Battlestars present, loomed in the rear of the formation, watching the utter massacre of her entire battle-group. Raiders swarmed the Vipers who weren't even returning fire. The Battlestars took hails of missiles to their center mass, blowing away the battleplates and ripping flightpods apart. The sixty Raiders that had been in the first wave had done immeasurable amounts of damage even before their reinforcements had arrived in the form of two of their capital ships. The Battlestar _Rollins_ listed heavily to her port side before exploding in a massive ball of fire and shrapnel. Raiders blew past the remaining wreckage and tore into the defenseless Vipers that remained.

"We got to do something," Lee mumbled to himself, pressing forward on the stick, breaking from the Misfit's formation. He pushed ahead toward the torrent of death and fire that was before him. The _Arcadia's_ Vipers set to engage the Raiders, and Hawley could figure what most were thinking right about. He was right there with them, too_. How do I know I'm not just going to die out here without even putting up a fight?_

He watched as the _Arrow_, shut down and not responding, surged uncontrollably headlong into the combat. The ship, without power to stop her forward momentum, barreled through the wreckage of the _Rollins_, tearing her starboard flightpod from her main body and continued on toward the Cylon ships. The Baseships, sensing the danger the uncontrolled Battlestar posed, shifted their fire from the _Hyperion_ and _Arcadia_ to the _Arrow_. The missiles struck the undefended ship, but didn't slow her. When she was nearly a kilometer away, the vessel exploded into dozens of smaller pieces. The remnants of the ship stuck the pair of Baseships, damaging them both, one so much so that it lost on of its "arms."

The wireless crackled. "At least those mother frakkers won't get out of here without a scratch," Ensign Wesley "Wacko" Alder called out over the squadcomm.

The Misfits moved forward now toward the Cylons, preparing to engage. The Raiders pushed onward into the _Arcadia's_ Viper line, who was shut down moments before engagement. Hawley cursed under his breath. No they weren't lucky enough to escape their fate. The _Arcadia_, however, unleashed a harrowing salvo of AAA fire onto the Raiders. The flak guns tore apart the first ranks of the Cylon fighters, keeping them momentarily off of the Vipers.

The Misfits, in the rear of the formation, had yet to make contact. "We're still operational," Hawley said as he touched the controls of the outdated fighter to make sure he wasn't wrong. The ship continued to respond to each of his commands.

Lucky gripped the flight stick with his gloved hands and locked on to the oncoming Raiders. "This is Lucky, engaging!" he called out to the rest of the Misfits.

Wacko and Jackal were only a second behind him to his port and starboard as the trio of Vipers pushed forward. The Raiders, concentrating on the dead Vipers, didn't even see them coming. The outdated MK VI Vipers tore into the unsuspecting Raiders, quickly taking out several before the enemy fighters could counter their fire. The Raiders seemed sluggish to react to the return fire, as if they weren't expecting to be shot back at. The _Arcadia_, who was still operation despite her battle-group not responding, aligned her main battery with the first Baseship that labored to maneuver around the destroyed _Arrow_.

Lucky pulled his Viper around some debris to engage a pair of Raiders. The enemy fighters drifted as they fired their cannons into a grouping of downed Vipers. Hawley pulled the trigger and grinned as the Raiders disappeared into two pairs of scrap metal.

The _Arcadia's_ main guns finally fired, and the massive rounds tore through the open space, leaving streaks behind them as they went. The first pair connected with the lead Baseship, gutting its center spire before splitting the ship in half.

Lucky, Wacko, and Jackal all reformed into a triangle formation, with Lucky at the head again. The Raiders refocused their efforts on the _Arcadia_, hammering her batteries and flight pods with missiles. The _Arcadia_, with the Raiders now hitting her, had to redirect her firepower to defend herself.

"Misfits, lets clear the _Arcadia's_ backside so she can finish this fight," Captain Hart ordered over the squadcomm to her fourteen remaining pilots.

"Roger that, Hart. Lucky, committing." Lucky pushed his Viper ahead and engaged the Raiders around the Battlestar. It was common military logic to run when outnumbered more than two to one, never mind twenty to one, but that wouldn't stop the Misfits from attacking anyway. Lucky grunted from the G-forces that hit his body as he engaged again. They were going to go down fighting, and they were going to take as many of the metal toaster with them as they could.

**Battlestar **_**Arcadia**_**, Combat Information Center**

Admiral Rick Tyros let out a small sigh of relief when his main battery tore the first Baseship in half. He'd half expected his weapons to be offline just like the other Battlestars in his group, but they had fired and therefore delayed their destruction by just a bit longer. The ship shook around him as the Raiders consentrated their fire from his doomed Vipers to the Battlestar. It would take much longer, but he had no doubt that the Raiders would eventually destroy him without a Viper escort.

It didn't make any sense to him. Just before engagement, all of his ships had lost power and been defenseless against the onslaught of Cylons. Now, even when his ship had survived while the others hadn't, he seemed doomed to their fate just because his fighter complement couldn't shoot back. It was some sort of sick joke that the Gods were playing on him. "Commander Turner!" he called out to his Executive Officer who still tried to work through their systems malfunctions. "Where is my FTL?" The darker woman shook her head, scraped her fingers through her dark hair as she looked down at an officer's console.

"They're gone, sir. Whatever the Cylons are doing to the others hasn't had the full effect on us yet. Some of our systems are down, but for the most part we're still operational." The woman looked up to him, strode across to the command table and began directing his gun turrets to engage different Cylon threats. At least they wouldn't be going down without a fight.

"_Roger that, Hart. Lucky, committing_." The wireless cracked with the sounds of the pilots that were still in the fight. The voices froze the CIC as they all at once looked to the DRADIS console to confirm what they were hearing. There was far too much wreckage and powered down Vipers for the DRADIS to sort through to get a fix on the Vipers that were still operational. If they couldn't see their own pilots then there was no way that the Cylons would be able to get a fix on them. Maybe they weren't finished. Tyros grabbed the wireless and ordered the communications officer to redirect him to the Misfits. "Misfits, this is Admiral Tyros. Continue to engage the Cylon forces. We're going to move straight out of the engagement zone so that we can get a clear shot on that second Baseship. Buy us a little time and we might be able to drive the Cylons back for a moment."

The ship still shook from the hits that the Raiders scored, but they seemed to slack as the Misfits continued to engage. "It just had to be the Misfits, didn't it?" Turner said with a half-smile.

"Get us around this wreckage, Lieutenant. Tactical! Spin up the capacitors for another salvo and get me a firing solution on the second Baseship," Tyros called out the orders to his crew. "You have something against the Misfits?"

Turner looked away from her console to the Admiral. "I just feel sorry for them, sir." The Admiral's face scrunched up as it always does when he was confused. "The Cylons that is." With a full smile this time, she let out a mocking laugh. "They're the ones stuck out there with fourteen pissed off Misfits bent on revenge. They won't stand a chance."

**Lieutenant Lee Hawley, In combat over Aerilon**

"Come on, Wacko! Push it! We've got four on our six. Dip down under the _Hyperion_'_s_ starboard flight pod, and that should bring us across Jackal and Villain." Lucky and Wacko pulled their Vipers down and around the out of commission _Hyperion_. Dead and dying Vipers drifted aimlessly about, colliding with one another, making navigating the area a total nightmare. One of the pursuing Raiders dodged around a drifting Viper, but placed itself directly into the path of another. It frantically tried to reverse its course, but slammed into the Viper destroying both.

Lucky jammed down hard on his rudder and shot through the gaps in the Valkyrie-Class Battlestar's flight pod. Wacko followed him closely as they shot the gap, the Raiders close on their tails. He pulled up on his flight stick to where he was flying parallel to the _Hyperion's_ underside. _Those two better be ready_. Hawley thought as he reached the bow of the Battlestar and ripped back hard on the stick to send his Viper into a gut wrenching ninety-degree upward turn. The G-forces made his gut clench tight, but he held the course. _Only a little bit longer._

The Raiders continued their pursuit, firing the whole time they went. "Wacko break to port on my mark!" The DRADIS was damn near useless, so they would just have to eyeball this one. In the distance, he saw a pair of Vipers barreling toward them at high speeds. Trailing them was a pair of Raiders. "Jackal,I hope you're feeling lucky 'cause we're going to bring it in close to pull this off."

"I'm always feeling lucky, Lucky." Garrett called over the wireless. "I see you got a couple more stragglers than we do. How about a little mop up after we're done here?"

"That was the plan_–_just break when I say so." The four Vipers pushed themselves harder to increase their speeds. He couldn't tell the range they were at, but his fellow squad mates were closing faster and faster. Give them five more seconds. He counted off the time in his head as the approaching Vipers became bigger and bigger through his forward viewport. Five, four, three, two… "Now! He yelled as the Vipers were no more than fifty meters from each other. At the high speeds, the four ships broke to port and starboard to avoid collisions. The Vipers passed no more than a meter from each other as they blew by.

The rear facing mirrors on the Viper showed the Raiders smash right into one another. Three of the Raiders twisted and rolled away from the oncoming death, but four slammed right into one another. The Misfits whooped and hollered over the wireless as the machines died. "Time for some clean up!" Wacko cried. The three remaining Raiders were now isolated and unable to lend support to one another. It was going to be too easy now. "Wacko, on me"

The Vipers quickly picked off the remaining Raiders and then leveled off to make another run on the Raiders that harassed the _Arcadia_. "This is the _Arcadia_. We're engaging all Vipers clear the firing solution."

The massive Battlestar had pushed through the wreckage and was in the clear to fire on the Baseship. The huge guns shuttered, and the rounds hit directly on the Baseship's center section, crumpling the armor on the enemy ship.

Before they could celebrate the death of another enemy ship, two more Baseships jumped into the fray. "Frak!" Villain yelled out over his wireless as the Baseships deployed dozens more Raiders to the fight. "We're frakked! We can't even hold off these bastards!"

The _Arcadia_ opened up with her AAA batteries to defend herself, but the Raiders would break through eventually. Normally, the _Arcadia_ wouldn't have a problem taking on two ships of that size, but without the Vipers, she was defenseless against the Raiders who could eventually tear her apart.

"I guess this is it," Lucky said over his wireless. "Nothing left to do now but attack."

"Give them hell before we die, right?" Wacko's voice was shaky, but determined. They were ready to die.

"Exactly. _Arcadia_, Lucky. We're engaging. Gods speed, _Arcadia_." The four Vipers pushed their throttles and charged headlong into their new enemies. Lucky's entire body shook as he flew to his death. Hundreds of Raiders on four Vipers. If anyone survived that whole mess, then they'd have one hell of a story to tell.

The Raiders broke and headed their way. Dozens of the mechanized fighters prepared to engage and kill them all, hopefully not before they took a few of them down with them. Lucky squeezed the trigger and fired a hail of bullets their way, but they never made contact. Hundreds of missiles poured over their heads and struck the Raiders, checking their advance. A moment later, dozens of massive rounds streaked past the destroyed fighters and tore into the Baseships. The enemy ships were too focused on the _Arcadia_ to turn their fire away now. The _Arcadia_, with the weight of the Raiders now being lifted, turned her entire might upon the Cylon ships. The four Vipers, still heading into the fray, slowed their advance and checked their DRADIS. Behind them, three ships of the _Aerilon Third Fleet_ surged ahead into the fray.

"_Arcadia_, this is the Battlestar _Sovereign_. I've got the Strikestars _Bastion _and _Manticore_ with me here. Sorry we're late, sir, hope you don't mind if we clear some of these toasters away!"

"Better late than never, _Sovereign_. Take as many as you'd like_–_ there're plenty to go around."

The two Strikestars pushed ahead and engaged the Raiders with their overwhelming amounts missile and gun batteries while the _Sovereign_, a _Courageous_-Class Battlestar opened up on the Baseships. The _Sovereign_, with her four heavy "wing mounted" rail guns, tore gaping holes into the enemy ships who succumbed to the overwhelming firepower of the Battlestars.

As soon as it had started, it was over. The _Arcadia_, while still damaged, was still alive and so were they.

Ten minutes later, the Misfits were back on the deck. As Hawley was towed down to the elevators, he could see the Raptors bringing in more and more downed Vipers as they frantically tried to save as many as they could. The freighters that had been used to bring in the guests to the _Arcadia_ were now being used to pull as many people off of the _Hyperion_, the only other Battlestar to survive the fight, before they ran out of air.

Hawley slid down the ladder the deck crews had pushed up for him. The deck was a scene of chaos as the wounded were being brought aboard. Deck crews shouted to one another as they tried to refuel the Raptors as quickly as they could to send them back out. Makeshift triages were set up across the massive deck to accommodate the wounded.

Hawley moved through the deck, stopping only to help where he could. One man laid on a stretcher, his chest split open from a piece of shrapnel. His body shook violently as he reached up to touch Lucky. There was nothing he could do but comfort the man as he died. It didn't take long, and he said nothing while it happened, but to the dying man, it seemed like it was just enough to have someone there with him. Hawley pushed away and moved through the crowd to find the Chief. He directed the flow of dead and wounded to different sides of the deck.

"Chief!" he called out and the Senior enlisted man looked to him. "Chief, we've got to get these Vipers back out there. They're just taking up space right now."

"Sorry, Lieutenant, but they're still dead in the water, and we have no frakking idea why."

"Then figure out why, Chief!"

The Chief stopped as he officer yelled at him. "What do you want me to do, sir? Work some of my magic to make them functional?"

"If that's what it takes, Chief. The Cylons aren't just going to run away and leave us alone because we beat them once. We've got to get the fighters operational again so this_–_" he pointed out to the sea of wounded and dead. "_–_doesn't happen again."

The Chief couldn't argue with that logic and finally gave in. "I can't spare many of my crewmen, but I'll put a team on it. Once they figure it out, I'll let you Viper jocks know. In the meantime, we'll get those trainers rearmed and loaded. We should be able to field another squadron of those. Won't be much, but it's better than nothing."

Hawley thanked the Chief and began making his way down the deck as he waited on the knuckle draggers to finish their job. He watched as a Raptor was towed onto the deck, one bearing the recognitions of the _Rollins_. He quickly jogged up to the hatch; the Lieutenant stood by as several stretchers were brought off of the Raptor, all crewmen from the _Rollins_.

The last person off he recognized as Ensign Haley Atlas, the operations officer of the ship. Her body was badly burnt and her arm twisted in an unnatural position. "Haley…" he started to say as he reached out to her.

She reached up and touched his hand. "They're dead, Lee. They're all dead…" She began to cry softly, out of pain or of sadness, he didn't know.

A wave of emotions flew over Hawley. He stepped back and allowed the corpsmen to take the stretcher away. Running his hand through the short stubble of his brown hair, he surveyed the incoming Raptors, filled with the _Rollin's _crew, most in the same condition as Ensign Knowles. They were the lucky ones though. The _Arrow_ had been lost with all hands. Not a single survivor had been picked up thus far.

The loud speakers blared to life, almost stopping the chaos that filled the hangar deck. "All hands, this is the Admiral speaking. This was indeed a victory here, but it came at a high cost. We lost many today, but I fear we will lose even more in the coming hours. Reports off a massive surprise attack across all twelve colonies are flooding in. We've lost contact with Picon Fleet HQ, and we've assumed the worst. Before we were able to destroy enemy Baseships…" The Admiral trailed off for a few seconds. "One was able to launch a series of strikes against the planet below with nuclear weapons. Many of the larger cities are already gone.

"I've decided to pull as many people off the planet as possible before the enemy returns in greater. We don't have much time, but we are going to conduct a massive planet wide evacuation with a few Battlestars. This is to be a tremendous undertaking, so I will need everyone to work quickly and diligently if we are to save as many as we can."

The communications cut off abruptly and the flurry of work resumed as quickly as it had halted. The Raptors that had dropped off the _Rollin's _and _Hyperion's_ wounded were already preparing to launch once again. The trainer Vipers were shuffled into their tubes so that they could launch again in case the Cylons returned.

Hawley caught the arm of a passing crewman. "How many of our Vipers did we lose out there?"

The crewman's face twisted as if he tried hard to recall the events of just over an hour ago. "Nearly all of them, sir." The crewman shifted on his feet, scratching the back of his head. "Nearly all of them…" The crewman repeated as if the realization of the two hundred pilots he used to look over being gone was just now hitting him. "We've brought back in about ninety from our ship, the rest are from the other ships in the battle-group."

_ Ninety Vipers? That was it? The Arcadia at full complement had four hundred Vipers._

Vipers were still being towed down into the hangar, all of them dead and most of the pilots along with them. The deck gangs would pry the cockpits open to retrieve the pilots. Most were just limp bodies who had run out of air during the fight, every now and again, they would pull a live pilot out who would gasp for air as he ripped his helmet off. He watched as one such pilot was dragged from his Viper and saved from the slow painful death of asphyxiation. The pilot was taken over to a medical triage to be checked for long term effects of oxygen deprivation. "Baby, hey man."

The pilot looked up to him. His pale white face and his eyes were bloodshot red.

"You all right?"

The pilot nodded slowly to him. "Yeah." It seemed to take him a few seconds to realize who he was talking to. "Lucky… the Misfits, you guys flew out there."

"Yeah, we did." With a forced smile and a shot at humor, he said, "Looks like rolling in those trainers was a good idea, huh?"

Baby's face broke into a small smile, but only for a moment. "Yeah, I guess it was." The boy hung his head for a moment. "They're dead, Lucky, and I did nothing to stop it."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Doesn't matter. They're dead and I didn't even get to take a shot in return. I watched them blow Carl right out of the sky. I saw him screaming as the missile hit his Viper. I couldn't do anything about it. Nothing." He placed his face in his hands and began breathing deeply; Lee figured he was trying to keep from breaking down in tears.

He had to get his mind off of what had just happened. Keep him busy. Lee placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "You'll get to take a shot soon, I promise, Baby. Right now, though, they need us in the Raptors taking those people off the planet. You good to fly?"

The pilot nodded slowly.

"Good."

Hawley nudged Baby's shoulder and moved by him farther down the deck toward the Raptor assembly area_. There will be time to grieve later,_ he told himself_, but now they needed to see about getting as many people off the planet as possible_.

He was pressed into the Raptor corps to head planet side to get as many people as they could. He had only flown a Raptor a few times before, but it all started coming back to him once he began flying. Two hours of nearly nonstop Raptor flights down to the planet, and eighty thousand people later the _Arcadia_ was filled to the brim with refugees from the surface below. The last of the pilots stumbled out of their Raptors, the effects of sitting in a cockpit for too long starting to get to them, and moved swiftly to a small area that the knuckle draggers had carved out of the flowing crowds of refugees on the hangar deck for the pilots to regain their breath. His hands shook, a side effect of holding on to a flight stick for far too long, but he was ready to go out again.

In the two hours they had been over Aerilon, there hadn't been much more than a few wings of Raiders coming against them, but they knew their luck wouldn't hold up. The second the Cylons were able to regroup and send a few Baseships their way, they'd have to bug out. Even with the _Phoenix_ and _Judgment, _both Mercury Class Battlestars, finding them they'd need more firepower to stave off any attack that came their way. Captain Hart, the highest ranking pilot left in the _Arcadia's_ air wing, made her way up to the group of pilots.

Hawley was against a wall, his head between his knees as he clutched a bottle of water. Garrett was next to him, resting his eyes as his head leaned against the wall.

"You all did good," the major started, making them all look up to her. "But I don't think we're out of this yet. Since we've been out and about, the _Arcadia_ has lost contact with three of the Colonies. The other five are reporting heavy casualties, it appears that this virus is widespread and allows the Cylons to systematically wipe out our forces without putting up much of a fight." She let the news sink into his already shaken up pilots.

Hart continued, "When the nukes hit, they took out Aerilon's long range transmitter. They're able receive most of the reports coming in, but they haven't been able to send anything out. Right now, the rest of the Colonies probably believe we're dead, and that means that the Cylons probably do too. The Admiral was planning on jumping away from Aerilon in an hour. After that, we're going to see about taking the fight to the Cylons."

"What about our Vipers, ma'am?" Wacko asked the question on all of their minds.

"We're working on it. We've figured out it was a virus so it shouldn't be long before we can stop it. Trust me, next time we're out there it will be more than just the Misfits taking a shot at the Cylons."

She made one more glance over the pilots, giving them a sharp nod and dismissing them to get some rest before they had to go out again. Hawley didn't even move. He was too tired and shaken up from the recent events to want to get up.

"Excuse me." A voice came through the crowd of people, and a small man walked toward him. His head came up to look at the man and he saw there was a small photo, Hawley figured he was just looking for another lost loved one. "I've got a photo here…"

"I'm sorry, we can't look for individual people down there. We don't know where to start looking, or what is even still left standing." The Lieutenant began, but the small man just shook his head.

"It's not that at all. This photo was taken just after the nuclear weapons hit." The photo was of a man, a soldier by the looks of it, kneeling on the roof of a tall building wounded perhaps, or just overwhelmed by emotions. Smoke rose from the capital city of Aerilon beyond the man and in the very corner, the flag of the colonies waved.

Hawley looked up from the photo to the man. "Who is this soldier?"

The man shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even know who the photographer was. When I was boarding the Raptors, a man handed me the photo and mumbled, 'lest we forget' and collapsed and died." The man stopped for a brief moment. "I didn't know what to do with it, so I thought that the ones who saved us should have it."

The Lieutenant nodded and thanked the man. "Lest we forget." He mumbled the words as the man left. The picture was powerful and moving all at the same time. Others needed to see it.

Lucky pushed himself up and off of the bulkhead and headed toward the CIC. He'd find someone more important than himself there. The corridors were just as choked as the hangar with refugees, and he had one hell of a time pushing his way through. Finally, he reached the CIC. The officers about didn't even notice him, aside from Commander Turner. She motioned for him to come. "We never got to thank you, Lieutenant. You held off the first wave of Raiders just long enough for us to get a shot off. You all saved a hell of a lot of people."

Hawley nodded but said nothing of it. Instead he held out the photo to the Commander. "A man gave me this a little bit ago. Lest we forget." The words seemed to fit the picture well, so he repeated them.

Admiral Tyros walked up behind him and took the photo from stared hard at the picture before looking back up to him. "Lest we forget," the Admiral repeated. "We're going to have a long journey ahead of us, Lieutenant, and we can never forget what happened here today. Where it all started."

Hawley nodded to the Admiral. He was right_– _too many had died here today to forget. "So say we all."

* * *

So there it is the first chapter of my new story Misfits. Expect a new chapter in about a week or so. For those of you that follow my other story, Helios, I will not be continuing with it for the time being. Right now I'll be focusing on Misfits until I'm farther into this story. As for my second story Pinnacle I'll be taking that down soon as I've lost interest in the story all together. If anyone would like to take up the story shoot me a PM and I'll send you what I've got for it.

Anyway please leave a review on how you thought Misfits was so I can know how I'm doing. Also, I do take story suggestions and ideas so if you've got one that you'd like to see in one of my stories then shoot me a PM and we can talk about it!


	2. Chapter 2

Okay everyone, here's the second chapter. I'll be posting a character list on my profile along with the names of the ships and their classes, so if you've forgotten who someone is or what ship their on just go check out my profile. If you have questions about any of my stories don't hesitate to send me a PM. Also, this is a very short chapter, but expect updates regularly. Lastly, please leave a review for me when you've finished up reading so I can know how I'm doing!

* * *

**Misfits: Chapter Two**

**Battlestar **_**Arcadia**_**, Port Side Hangar Deck**

"_All hands stand-by for jump. Jump clock is set at one hour._ _"_ The PA rung across the ship. Lee and Garrett stepped down from the Raptor they'd been flying SAR in and onto the deck of the _Arcadia_. Two crewmen followed them out with stretcher bearing a dead man and carted him away to the makeshift-morgue at the rear of the deck. Long rows of corpses were lined up across the length of the massive deck as the Raptors had continued to bring in Vipers and lifeboats from the battle earlier. Most of them had run out of oxygen by then, but they weren't going to stop looking.

Garrett slipped his helmet off and dropped it onto the wing of the Raptor. They had a little time before the jump, but that was their last run out there. He was exhausted; they all were. Lee placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and collapsed down on the wing beside him. "We did all we could, right?" he asked after a moment of silence. "I mean we saved a lot of people, didn't we?"

Garrett nodded slowly before looking up. "Yeah, but how many could we have saved if we were a little faster?"

"I don't know, but we really can't afford to think like that, can we?"

"How can we not? We just spent hours flying around looking for people. How many times do you think we just flew by one of them and didn't even know it?"

"A lot, but there was nothing we could do. We went for who we knew we could save."

"I guess so." They were both on edge and neither wanted to argue about what could have happened. "What's the airwing down to?"

Lee sighed and tried to pull the numbers from his head. "Last I heard they found ninety-one of us. Major Wilson isn't with them."

"So, that leaves Captain Hart in command of us, then?"

"It does." Captain Sara Hart stepped up onto the wing of the Raptor with them. She looked just as tired as they were, and they knew that she had been right there with them the whole time. "I've got a mission for you two, come with me."

The two pilots glanced to each other before following her. Neither of them were ready to begin flying again. She led them through the refugee choked corridors to the pilot ready room where about forty pilots were gathered. Wacko and Villain were sitting uncomfortably in the front of the room, where Lucky and Jackal were ordered to take a seat. "All right everyone, listen up," Captain Hart said, taking the podium. "We've got several missions that require our immediate attention. We're jumping away from Aerilion as you all know to an unspecified point to regroup our forces with Admiral Nagala. We've lost both the _Arrow_ and _Rollins_, with the majority of their airwings as well. For those of you that survived that ordeal, count yourselves lucky."

Hawley glanced behind him to notice a pair of pilots with the Battlestar _Rollins_ patch on them. So not all of the pilots here were _Arcadia's_ pilots. "We're low on pilots across the battlegroup, even with the _Sovereign_, _Phoenix_, and _Judgment_. They lost just as many pilots as we did. This whole cluster-frak leaves us in a terrible position, and worst of all, there are only five of us left that have actually fought against these bastards." Hart looked down to the four pilots who sat in the front row. "The Misfits took on Raiders and came out in one piece, but most of them didn't. Ten of them were shot down and killed. These four are the only ones in the Colonial Fleet that have seen any sort of combat. Gentlemen." Captain Hart motioned for them to take the podium, but none of them moved. Lee reluctantly stood up and made his way to the podium.

"Well," Lee started but drew a blank as he thought about the capabilities of the Cylon ships. He thought back to the engagement only hours before. "They're fast." They entire room did nothing but stare at him as he spoke. He'd never given a briefing on an enemy craft before, and right now he was trying to remember what he could about them. "They're faster than you are, especially if you're flying one of those trainers. They don't think or hesitate**—** they just… react. They can make a one-hundred-eighty degree flip without even slowing to take the G's off of them. They're pretty damn accurate, but get going at a high enough speed, and their aim gets a little sluggish. You all probably saw, but they fire bluish tracers, so if you see them, it's not just your buddy flagging you. Their payload is bigger than ours. Out there I saw them drop a dozen missiles a piece on the _Arcadia_ and _Hyperion_, so don't underestimate their capabilities to shoot you down."

Most of the pilots scratched down notes or stared blankly at him. He didn't know what to tell them. "Listen, they might have more firepower and can move faster and turn on a dime, but that doesn't mean their better. We got something they don't. The will to live, and that's something I'd take over a dozen missiles any day. You're better pilots than those things, and that—" he stopped and looked each of the pilots over before continuing. "I know. Whatever we face in the next few hours, days, weeks, months, however long this damn war lasts, I know that we will prevail 'cause we've got pilots like you all." His eyes locked with Captain Hart's, who only nodded and took the podium.

She looked at them all. "It's not much, but it's all we've got to go on." The Captain started before turning on the projector at the rear of the room. The image revealed was a small station with four docking bearths, jutting out from the sides. There were several ships docked in the bearths, one was a Battlestar of a class he didn't recognize, what looked to be a single Hellfire-Class Strikestar and the other three had to be Gunstars. "This is Osiris Fleet Station. It's home to the 33rd Colonial Reconnaissance's Force. As of an hour ago, the ships there have been bogged down. It seems that the Cylons first attack on the station failed, and they're now waiting for reinforcements before attacking the station again. The 33rd has ridded themselves of the virus, but they still haven't been able to bring their Vipers back online, just like us."

She pressed the next slide and the picture of the unidentified Battlestar came into view. "This is the Battlestar _Majestic_. She's the newest class of Battlestar to enter service. Her engine block and FTL systems are oversized, meaning she can outrun damn near anything in the galaxy. Her firepower is somewhat weaker than your standard _Mercury_, but she has enough missile bays in her bow to take out a small moon in the opening salvo. That, coupled with her new rack system, allows for faster and more accurate firing. Needless to say, this ship is beyond necessary to our operations in this war. Your mission is a simple one. Jump in, extract the 33rd and then report back to the rendezvous area. We've dubbed it Operation: _Majestic_. Fitting, don't you think?"

Some of the pilots laughed at the vain attempt at humor.

One of the pilots from the _Rollins_ spoke up. "Why don't they just jump out and leave the station to get frakked by the Cylons?"

Hart nodded to the man. "Because the station is surrounded by a very particular nebula. It plays hell with the sensor package on anything that tries to jump out of it. It's virtually impossible to make an accurate jump from inside the nebula. That means that they have to reach a minimum safe jump distance before they can run, and without a fighter complement these ships are sitting ducks to the Raiders that are prowling around the edge of the safe zone."

Lee had a question of his own. "Captain, you said they didn't have their Vipers online just like us."

She nodded to him.

"What are we flying?"

Hart had a grin that made his gut sink. "The trainers," she said, and the pilots all sighed collectively. "Their systems seem to be more resistant to the virus that the MK VIIs. It seems that he Cylons didn't account for the older tech being a threat."

"You'll be taking Venom-Class Assault ships into the system, from there you'll break up into four separate wings to complete a series of objectives." The image changed again to show a Cylon Baseship with a trio of smaller support ships. Two of the ships looked like just one of the Baseship's arms cut off from the main ship. It was significantly smaller than the Baseship, making him figure it had to be a frigate of some sort. The last looked nothing like the other two, but more like a communications ship with a large dish situated on the top of the ship. "These ships are all that stands between the 33rd and us. The smaller ones—" She used a laser pointer to point the ships out. "—have been dubbed Gorgon-Class Frigate. It's a menace to smaller strike craft such as yourselves, but to anything bigger it's nothing. Think of it as a Sentinel-Class Gunstar." The pilots all nodded as they looked over the new ships. "This—" She pointed to the last ship. "Is a jamming ship, which we've eloquently dubbed the Jammer-Class.

The Jammer-Class, from what we can tell, has no weapon systems aboard besides the ability to scramble our jump drives and knock out our communications. How they do this, we don't know. What we do know is that you're going to need to knock that ship before we can get the 33rd out of there."

"Captain, what's the strength of the 33rd?"

"The _Majestic_ has taken light damage thus far, so she'll be in support for you all. The Gunstars _Harbinger_ and _Hellhound_ have been significantly damaged. That leaves the Strikestar _Hellfire_ and Gunstar _Spitfire_ to support you as well. They've both received moderate damage but should be able to lend support to you."

"That leaves it a fair three-on-three fight," Garrett muttered to Lee.

"Wouldn't that be nice? A fair fight?" They both chuckled to themselves as the Captain continued on with the rest of the briefing.

"Each of our four wings will have an objective to fill as I stated earlier. You will be broken down into wings of four, each led by a wing commander." She motioned toward the four pilots in the front row.

Lee and Garrett looked at each other for a moment. They were putting them in command?

"Lieutenants Hawley and Westbrook will be taking command of Gold and Silver Wings, respectively, while Lieutenants Metz and Alder have been promoted to take on Blue and Red Wings."

The four pilots were dumbfounded by the new responsibilities, but regained their senses while the Captain rattled off their orders.

"Red Wing, under Junior Lieutenant Alder, will separate from the main group and rendezvous with the _Majestic_ to provide close support to the Battlestar as she moves from the station. Blue Wing, under Junior Lieutenant Metz, will hang to the rear and escort the Assault Ships into their position before the main strike. It is the Assault Ships' mission to get in close and deploy their Long Lance Torpedoes against the Baseship, hopefully crippling it before the _Majestic_ arrives.

Gold and Silver Wings will move together to the target area where they will then break formation and engage separate targets. The Jammer-Class sits off to the rear of the ships when engaged as it is a clear advantage that they hold over us right now that they don't want to lose. Gold Wing's mission, under Lieutenant Hawley, to draw as many of the Raiders away from Silver Wing as they possibly can. Upon engagement, Gold Wing will tie up the Raiders and prevent them from harassing Silver Wing who is the main push in this fight. Silver Wing, under direction of Lieutenant Westbrook, will break off and slip past the Cylon battlegroup just before engagement and move to neutralize the Jammer before the 33rd engages the Cylons. The overall operation here is to both decimate the Cylon forces and to preserve the 33rd. Do your jobs, follow the direction of your Wing Commanders, and you'll all make it out of there alive." The Captain stepped back and offered herself up for questions. The pilots grilled her for information on the operation. She gave one last look around the room at the pilots before dismissing them to their Wing Commanders.

Lucky stood up and looked to the three other Wing Commanders. "Well, good luck I guess. And Wacko, Villain, congrats on the promotion. Now, let's go give the Cylons hell." He touched knuckles with Wacko and Villain before they left to meet with their Wings. Garrett held back a little longer. "Well, I guess we'll be the ones dishing the damage this time."

"I guess so. I'll be counting on you out there, Lee."

"I know. I'll pull them away for you. It'll let you get a clear shot at the Jammer."

"Don't do anything to stupid, though. I don't want you getting yourself killed trying to give us a shot at the Jammer."

"Don't worry, Jackal, I've never bitten off more than I can chew."

Garrett slapped him on the shoulder. "Well, we've got a job to do. Good luck out there, Lee."

"You too, Garrett. Take care of yourself."

Lee left his friend and made his way to his Wing that had gathered at the front of the room. Most of the pilots didn't know one another and were busy introducing themselves to their new wingmen. He stepped up in front of the small circle they had formed. The faces were all new to him aside from one, Ensign Miles Thompson, or Baby, to the rest of them_. So_, _they put Baby with me for this one? Good. Let's see what he can do._ "Gold Wing," he said to them. Each of the pilots fell silent as he spoke. "Sounds like we're pretty damn important, doesn't it?"

The group laughed and relaxed a bit in front of their new leader.

"So, we're nothing more than glorified decoys for this mission, our first mission together. Just stick with your wingman and keep moving. That's all it takes. No fancy hot shot moves today, all right." The Viper pilots all nodded to him, and he knew he wouldn't have a problem with that. "We're all tired, so I want you all to head to sick bay and get yourselves some stims for when we go out there. As for right now, find a rack and get some sleep. Mission clock is set for us to jump in two hours. Knock out until then and be rested before we jump. I don't want anyone falling asleep during the mission. Any questions? Good, go get some sleep. Dismissed."

The pilots filed out of the room to their racks, but one lingered. It was a short red-headed woman with sharp green eyes. She stepped closer to him as they walked out of the ready room. "I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Nivi Kirsch, sir. Callsign is Reds. I was wondering if I could fly on your wing, sir." Her accent was a thick Piconian one, and he figured she was probably from the more polar regions of the planet.

Lucky nodded to the woman as they weaved down the hallway. "You want to fly on my wing?"

"Yes, sir," she said just as quickly as he answered her.

"Why is that?"

A grin flashed across her face but only for a second. "Because when the shit hits the fan, I'd like to know that I'm with the best we got right now."

"Best we got?" he asked sarcastically. _If I'm the best we got, then we're frakked, __h_e wanted to say, but held his tongue for the sake of morale.

"That's why they put you in command, right?"

"I only survived out there, Reds."

"Which is more than a lot of pilots can say. The Misfits went up against impossible odds and you all survived."

"Not all of us."

"But you did, which is why I want to be on your wing."

"All right, I'll let you fly on my wing, but make sure you cover my ass."

She gave him a wry smile. "Consider it covered, sir." The woman gave a quick salute and was off before he could say another word.

Hawley continued down the hallway to the other side of the ship. The Starboard hangar deck had been largely left to the guests who had been present during the battle, and that's where he'd find Ellie.

Once he reached the hangar, there was a pair of marines at the door way not letting anyone through to the other parts of the ship. Many of the dates of the crew had been anxiously trying to reach their significant others to make sure they were all right.

Hawley finally made his way through the chaos at the doors and sought out his fiancé. She was seated at one of the tables, talking to several of the guests. Her back was to him, but her friend, Yasmina, saw him approaching. Ellie turned her head and the moment she saw him she burst into tears. She shot out of the chair, knocking it over as she went and ran to him. He embraced her, wrapping her in her arms tightly. "They told us most of the pilots were dead."

"I know."

"They wouldn't tell us who was alive and who was dead."

"I know, love."

"I was so scared."

"It's okay, Ellie, I'm here now. I'm all right."

Her nails dug into his flight suit as she clung even tighter to him. "What's happening, Lee?"

He sighed and rocked her back and forth as he held her. "We're at war." It felt so strange to say that they were at war, but it was a truth. This is what he had trained for his entire career, but yet he felt so unprepared for the horrors of it.

"I'm scared, Lee. Is it true they bombed Aerilon?"

"Yes, that's why we evacuated as many as we could."

"What about Alison?"

"I don't know. Was she with your sister?"

"They left for Picon this morning."

"At least they weren't in Gaoth."

"But they're on a ship out there, Lee. They're defenseless."

"The President put a hold on all civilian traffic, but Admiral Tyros has been ordering any civilian ships in the area to move to our rendezvous point so they can be safe. I promise you that they're all right, babe."

"I don't know. What if they'd already made it to Picon when the attack hit?"

"Ellie, I promise you when I get back I will look for them. I will harass every officer on this ship until they come up with an answer."

"Wait. When you get back?" Ellie pulled away from him and looked up into his eyes. "Where are you going?"

"I've got orders. I won't be gone long."

"No," she said with tears in her eyes. "No, you can't go on this mission."

"I have to, Ellie. I can't just say no."

"Yes, you can! Stay here, request some assignment on the _Arcadia_. I'm sure they'll give it to you!"

He shook his head at and tried to pull her back in, but she wouldn't let him. "They won't, Ellie. I can promise you that."

"Why not? Don't they have enough pilots out there?"

"No, they don't, and I'm one of the four pilots in this entire battlegroup that has a shred of experience against these machines, so I have to go. We lost over three hundred pilots in the last attack, and most of them didn't even get to put up a fight. I watched twice as many as that go up in a ball of flame as the _Rollins_ was split in half. Even if they wanted me to stay, I wouldn't. I have to go out there. I've got to give back to these Cylons the hurt that they've given us."

He watched her expression change. She knew he was right, and that he had to go on the mission. She wouldn't like it, but she wouldn't oppose it any longer. "Just come back to me, Lee."

"I will, love. I promise. I have two hours until we jump. I want to spend it with you."

She smiled at him and they kissed for a long while. _It wouldn't be the last time I see you_. He told himself. _No, I've got too much to live for right now to die._ He took her to an equipment locker, the only place they could find to themselves.

The second the door closed behind him, he was pinned to the wall. She unzipped the suit from the front as quickly as she could. She pulled back the suit, and he ripped his arms out of the bulky material. He kissed her like he had never before as she pulled his underclothing off of him and tossed it aside. He tried to step closer to her to take her, but she stopped him dead in his tracks. She stepped back slowly, kicking her heels off as she went. Slowly, she slipped from her dress and let it slide to the floor, exposing her naked body. She took a step closer to him and slowly kissed him on the lips. "If this is our last night together, then I want it to be one to remember, Lee."

"It will, love, and it won't be our last night together. Of that, I can promise."

**Battlestar **_**Arcadia**_**, Flag Officer's Quarters**

"Mister President, I can't do that right now," Admiral Tyros said as he poured himself a glass of Ambrosia. The cool green liquid looked better and better every moment.

"You have to, Rick." President Adar begged.

The Admiral only shook his head and tried to hand a second glass of liquor to the President. Maybe that would calm him down. "I can't. We're in the middle of conducting military operations. If we stopped to check every freighter in the system, we'd be spreading ourselves too thin."

The President sipped the liquor for a moment and seemed to calm as it hit the back of his throat. "It's my family, and I'm ordering you as the Commander-and-Chief of the Colonial Military to do as you're told." His voice feigned forcefulness, but Tyros wasn't having any of it.

He shook his head and threw back the liquor in one quick shot. It may be forty-year-old sipping Ambrosia, but he didn't care right now. He had bigger things to worry about. "You may be the Commander-and-Chief, Dick, but I'm in command of these ships here. I'll send out an encrypted message to every ship in the system to regroup with us, but I'm not going after them."

"Please, Rick, it's my family." He pleaded. Good to know what the President was like under pressure. "What would you do if it was yours?"

Tyros slammed the glass down onto his desk and looked to the President. "You don't think that I don't want to jump straight to Caprica? Swoop in and rescue my family from the Cylons?"

Adar stood up to face the man. "Why don't you?"

He sighed deeply to himself. He got nowhere with this argument. "Because, Dick, it would cost more lives than it would save."

Adar shook his head, but Tyros put his hand up to wave off any opposition. "I'll think on it. I promise."

The President nodded to the Admiral, realizing that that was the best offer he would get. "Thank you. It's Ocean's Stars. If you come by the ship, then that's the name of it."

Tyros poured himself another glass of Ambrosia. _Sip this one, the rate that this war is going there won't be much of it left._ "I'll keep my eyes out, but right now we have things to discuss."

The President nodded.

"Our long range communications on Aerilon have been knocked out, and we've yet to repair them. As of right now, we've lost contact with Picon and scattered reports say that it was nuked and totally destroyed. In addition to that, we've lost more than sixty percent of the Fleet. The virus took too much of a toll on us."

The President rubbed the rim of his glass for a few long minutes as he pondered his next words. "I know this might be a stretch for you, Rick, but have you considered surrender?" He looked up and met the other man's eyes.

Tyros sighed deeply. It'd been on his mind as well. No matter how much he hated it, it seemed like the best course of action to save lives. "I have, Mister President, and I think it could be a viable option at this point."

"We're in no condition to continue this fight, are we?"

The Admiral shook his head. "No, but if we do, then the Fleet will fight until the bitter end, that I can assure you."

"I'd rather the loss of life be ended here, Admiral," Adar said, looking down into the contents of his glass.

The Admiral sighed, he was ready to fight and continue on until they were all dead, but he would rather not see his entire command killed. "I would, too," he said softly.

"Then, it is decided?" The President looked up from his glass once again. His eyes looked sad, as if he was the cause of all the pain.

Nodding, the Admiral grabbed the phone in his office and keyed it to the SIC. "I think it is. I'll send a message to every broadcasting center in the Colonies."

"I hope we're doing the right thing."

"Me too, Mister President, me too."


	3. Chapter 3

**Misfits: Chapter Three**

**Battlestar _Arcadia_, Port Hangar Deck 2**

The pilots stood in a semi-circle around him as he held out the stim pills to them. He'd gotten no rest during their two hour break, and he doubted many of them did either. He'd left Ellie in a rush, his flightsuit half zipped and her dress still in a crumpled pile on the floor. Not the most glorious good bye, but it was an amazing two hours. Certainly something he wouldn't forget.

"I want you pills in your hands right now. Palms up, show them to me." They all placed their pills on their hands and held them out as he told them to do. "Alright down them, ladies and gentlemen. This will give you the boost you need to get through the next couple of hours." The pilots all placed the pills into their mouths and washed them down with water. It was dangerous to run off of stims, but it was better than nothing right now. "Good, we're due to rendezvous with the Assault Ships in ten minutes. Get in your birds we'll be airborne soon. Remember, stick to your wing when you're out there and no showboating."

"Yes, sir!" The group responded, and he felt weird to be the one giving all the commands. The ten pilots all dropped down into their MK VI trainers and were loaded into the tubes.

"Hey, Lieutenant, these MK VIs are kind of retro aren't they?" Ensign Jake Masev said over the wireless.

"Older than most of us, Rook, but they do the job well enough."

"Yeah we'll see, Ell-Tee."

It was impossible for the Vipers to be launched from the _Arcadia_ while being attached to the Assault Ships, therefore, they needed to be launched first and then later land upon the ships to be jumped to the target area. "Alright everyone." Hawley called out to his Wing. "Form up and begin attaching yourself to the Assault ships. Baby, you're first."

It was a notoriously tedious and complicated task to attach a Viper to one of the Venom Assault Ships, so the process of attaching the ten Vipers took longer than a half hour, which was why they wouldn't be taking the Assault Ships out of the combat zone. The Venoms were good for a quick insertion, but getting out in a hurry was out of the question. So you needed either an alternate extract, or you'd just have to stick around and fight it out.

"You're right on the ball, Lucky, bring it on down." The deck crew of the Venom said as he guided down his Viper. The crewman, once the Viper was close enough, could essentially grab the Viper and bring it down once it was close enough to lock it into place, and a few moments after touching down, they were finally ready to go. "Gold Wing is situated and ready for a piggyback." The Venom's pilot said over the wireless.

Another ten minutes ticked by as the remaining Wings attached their last few Vipers. Finally, once the assault force had been attached, the jump clock began. "Jump clock is set for two minutes. Make your checks and be ready to engage straight out of the gate." Hawley ordered to his pilots. It was different, commanding pilots rather than being the one taking commands, and it did bother him a little bit. It's just for this mission. He told himself. And then things can go back to how they were.

The ten minutes came and went without incident, and with a bright flash of light, the four Venom-Class Assault Ships jumped to the Osiris Fleet Station. When they rematerialized the Vipers quickly disengaged their magnetic clamps and fired their maneuvering thrusters so that they shot away from the ships like a star bursting apart. "Gold Wing form on me. Silver stay on our six for as long as you can."

"Wilco, Lucky, we'll be on your ass." Jackal called out. The pilots of Gold Wing quickly formed into a giant diamond shaped formation, keeping their distance from one another so that a single missile wouldn't take out more than one of them at a time.

He watched as Wacko's Vipers peeled away and headed into the small nebula to fetch the 33rd and provide cover for her just as Villain's Vipers formed into a defensive wedge around the four Assault Ships to being their attack run on the Baseship.

From their launch point, he could see the enemy ships sitting just along the exit of the nebula and just inside the minimum jump range_. Smart buggers_. The enemy formation was a typical one as it had their Baseship nestled behind their two Gorgon-Class frigates. Raiders were beginning to launch from the Baseship in large numbers. Lucky cursed softly to himself. Twenty Vipers were supposed to break up a single Baseship's full complement between the two of them and survive. "Listen up, Gold, we're looking a terrible odds to start it off. We're pulling these Raiders out and we're staying out. Do not stray into the firing solution of those Gorgons. We'll take them one-to-one. Just stick to your wing and keep moving. Understood?"

There was a symphony of acknowledgements from his pilots. Most sounded nervous, which was understandable for their current situation. _Hell, I'm one shot away from pissing myself_. He thought to himself, but tried to shelve his fears for the time being for the sake of his Wing. "Hey Baby."

"Sir?" The junior pilot's response came over the wireless.

"Looks like today's the day that you're going to be getting that payback you were talking about."

"Looking forward to it."

"Let's make them bleed, Gold."

He took his Wing in a wide arc around the Cylon formation and forced the Raiders to pick either his group of Vipers or Villain's. Villain was taking his Wing straight in for a run on the Gorgon's rather than the Baseship itself. It wasn't part of the plan, but it would help mopping up what was left of the Raiders once they finished the Baseship. _I'd do the same thing._ He told himself. _Kill the escorts so that the Baseship was left to fend for itself._

Just as he thought, the Raiders broke into two separate groups. The larger one, probably consisting of two thirds of the enemy's fighter complment was heading for them with the rest heading for Villain and the Assault ships. "Look alive, Gold Wing, estimate time to contact two minutes. Silver, this is probably about where we should say goodbye."

"Roger that, Gold. Good luck and we'll be back to help you once we finish off this Toaster Jammer."

"We'll be waiting for you, Silver." Lucky and his Vipers veered sharply inwards towards the enemy formation to meet the Raiders head on. None of the enemy ships changed course or even hinted that they were going to make a move on the Jackal's Wing. Probably think they can still shut our Vipers down. They're about to be in for one hell of a surprise. "All Vipers you are weapons free! Time to give these metal bastards some payback!"

The Cylon ships opened up with their red eye and tried to shut down the aging Vipers. Instead of a squadron of dead fighters, all the Cylons received for their efforts was a hail of bullet. The usupecting Raiders took the Viper's gunfire straight on and Lee watched as his Wing annihilated the first rank of enemy fighters. However, their disadvantage was fleeting as the Raiders quickly adjusted to the threats and opened fire with a hail of cannons of their own.

Lucky jerked his Viper to port and avoided a Raider's gunfire, spinning him into the sights of a second Raider. He squeezed the trigger and fired away at it before it could send him to an early grave. The enemy ship exploded into a ball of fire. He continued to fly through the formation, as the rest of his pilots did, until he had passed through the other side. He wipped back around and pushed his Viper forward once again. The Raiders made their tight one hundred and eighty degree turns like it was nothing and reengaged his Vipers.

The whole battle degenerated from there. It was no longer a squadron-to-squadron battle, but a brutal ugly one-on-one engagements. Lee moved from Raider to Raider without even thinking of where he was going. The enemy fighters were swarming him, and they had to know it. Each time he punched through a group of Raiders, the survivors would allow him a second pass back into their ranks to try and surround and crush him. Each time however, he would push his way out of the fray and into another one.

He pitched his Viper upwards to fall onto the tail of a pair of Raiders. One of his pilots called out to him, but the wireless was cut short as his Viper exploded from the CYlon fire. Lee locked onto the Raiders and fired away. The rounds tore into the rear Raider and its right wing sepeated from the main body sending it spiraling away from the combat zone. The lead Raider spun around quickly drifting backwards firing its cannons. He pulled his Viper into a tight combat roll to narrowly miss the Raiders rounds. He fired his guns blindly as he went, hoping that it would catch one of the Raiders. There's enough of the bastards that I have to hit one.

Checking his DRADIS, he saw Reds keeping right on his six, mopping up what he didn't take out on the first pass. "Reds, keep tight to my six, looks like Pusher and Sky eye could use some cover."

"Tally, Lucky, I'm right here with you."

Good pilot. He made a mental note to keep her on if they all made it through this one. The pair of Vipers blasted through the open space, as the fighting had widened out as the pilots continued you engage to give themselves a little breathing room. Pusher and Sky Eye had hit their full thrusters and were tearing through space trying to stay one step ahead of the Cylons. "This is Pusher, we've got five of these bastards right on our ass! Can I get a little support-" His wireless was cut dead as a missle smashed into his canopy.

"Sky Eye! Keep moving we're coming up on you now, we'll have your back cover soon. Try and loop them back around to us."

"Got it, Lucky, I'll have them lined up, just don't miss." Junior Lieutenant Jennifer "Sky Eye" Pedersen called out over her wireless frantically.

"Reds! Roll to starboard and get above them. When she brings them back around drop down on top of them and give them hell."

"My pleasure." Her Viper darted up and away out of his view while he continued on to take the Raiders head on. Not his best idea, but it's all that he could do at the moment.

Sky Eye pulled her tails around and brought them back on a straight course for him. She'd be bringing them right across his nose, and at these speeds he wouldn't have much time to pick a target before they were past him. It was his hope that with three Vipers from all different angles that the Raiders would break up and they could pick them all off individually.

Sky Eye pulled her Viper onto a direct course with him. She pulled sharply up before when they were close to two hundred meters away. At the same time, Reds dove down on top of the Raiders, tearing a pair of them to pieces. Lucky pulled the trigger and caught a third Raider on its fuselage and sawed it in half. The last two Raiders spun about to engage the new threats, but Sky Eye had already turned about and was engaging the enemy fighters. The three Vipers were able to quickly put away the last two Raiders.

With a few moments to spare, he surveyed the battle around him. His wing was down to five pilots from what he could see on his DRADIS. Silver Wing had already engaged and destroyed the Jammer, but was tied up in their own engagement with a splinter group of Raiders that must have peeled off from his force. Villain's Wing, from what he could tell, had accomplished their mission, as one of the Gorgon's was pulling back out of the fight with a gaping hole in its side, but his Wing was down to only four pilots.

Just at that moment, the 33rd emerged from the edge of the nebula. At its point was the Battlestar _Majestic_, which looked like nothing more than an enlarged Valkyrie-Class with an oversized engine block. The Battlestar came out firing too. Her forward missile batteries were pouring out missiles as quick as the auto-loading rack systems would allow them too. The missiles streaked across the open space and caught a dozen of the Raiders as they fell back away from the new threats.

"All Vipers, this is the 33rd Reconnaissance Group. Fall back and provide close air support for us." The Battlestar _Majestic's_ missiles were auto-targeting the Raiders and destroying them quickly and efficiently. The Raiders began to fall back to their capital ships so that they could survive the harrowing salvos from the _Majestic_.

"Take what you can get Gold Wing, but don't stray too far in. Those Gorgons will tear you to shreds!" The remnants of Gold Wing chased down and destroyed as many of the fleeing Raiders as they could, further thinning their ranks.

The Baseship began sending missiles of her own flying towards the _Majestic_ and her escorts, whom had just emerged after her. The _Hellfire_ and _Spitfire_ took up positions to the _Majestic's_ flanks and began opening fire with their point defense weapons to try and swat down the missiles coming in.

The remaining Vipers limped back to the small battlegroup to regroup themselves and cover their carriers. The DRADIS read that twenty-one Vipers were still operational, ten of which were Blue wing who hadn't been a part of the fighting. Only eleven survived out of the thirty who had engaged. "Gold Wing on me. Let's get a tight CAP around the 33rd in case the Raiders come back."

With both air wings virtually decimated, it was left to the capital ships to slug it out. The _Majestic_ was the first to shift her fire as she sent a hail of missiles after the Gorgon that was still defending the Baseship. The enemy frigate threw up an impressive flak field, wiping away the majority of the missiles. However, the _Hellfire_ and _Spitfire_ opened up with their rail guns and began hammering the Gorgon. The ship shuttered and returned fire, but failed to do as much damage as the combined strength of the Gunstar and Strikestar. With the enemies batteries failing, the _Majestic_ powered ahead, her massive engines propelling her far around the enemies flak. The Gorgon was left with one of two options. Shift its AAA fire to the _Majestic_ to stop her barrage of missiles, or continue to slug it out with the two support ships. The Gorgon took its chances and left her broadside open to the _Majestic_ and continued to focus its fire on the _Spitfire_, who took some moderate damage, but it wasn't enough. The _Majestic's_ opening salvo unleashed over one hundred missiles, all of which scored hits across the Cylon ship. The escort bucked and spun as the missiles struck her across the broadside, and finally exploded under the combined fire of the ships.

The Baseship continued her barrage of the support ships, but had moved its attention from the _Hellfire_ and _Spitfire_ to the two severely damaged ships that were just leaving the nebula. The two crippled Gunstars' weapons weren't up to defend themselves from a full salvo from a Baseship. The AAA stop a few of the missiles, but the vast majority slipped through and crushed the _Hellhound_ who had come out first. The Gunstar split in half and exploded violently, peppering the Colonial ships near it with debris.

All of the Colonial ships now focused their fire on the Baseship, and after a few minutes of an intense shootout, the Baseship succumbed to the fire. Its arms folded in on itself as the entire ship began blowing up in a massive chain reaction. "_Majestic_! We've got Raiders inbound! Looks like whatever was left is making an attack run us!" The _Spitfire_ and _Hellfire_ opened up with their AAA batteries as the Raiders began flowing in.

Lee didn't wait for orders to come in from the _Majestic_ or anywhere else. "All Vipers engage and destroy those Raiders don't let them reach the _Harbinger_!" He pushed his Viper forward to engage the oncoming wave of fighters. When in range, he squeezed the trigger and destroyed a pair of Raiders in quick succession, but they blew straight past him without stopping. He'd expected to lose several of the Vipers on the first pass by, but not a single had been hit. The Raiders kept their formation and pressed onwards towards the ships. "Run them down!" Lee cried over the wireless. "Shoot them down before they reach the battlegroup!"

The Raider pressed on and increased their attack speed when they reached the flak walls that the trio of support ships were putting up. Lee and the other pilots moved frantically to shoot down the Raiders, but there were too many. The Raiders unleashed their payloads onto the ships so close that the AAA fields didn't even have a chance to shoot down the missiles. The _Spitfire_ and _Hellfire_ shook violently from each of the hits across their bodies. The surviving Raiders, about twenty of them, pressed on after they had made their run against the two operational ships. Lee and the others were hot on the tails of the Raiders, taking any of them as they came into range, but the Raiders were too quick for them. Lee watched as the remaining Raiders made a suicide run against the crippled _Harbinger_, slamming into her critically damaged sections. The _Harbinger_ blew up in a massive white ball of flames, ending almost as quickly as it had started.

Lee surveyed his DRADIS and confirmed that the Raiders had been destroyed. He keyed his wireless to the _Majestic_. "_Majestic_, Lucky. All Cylon contacts confirmed destroyed, but we've lost the _Harbinger_."

"Copy Lucky. Bring your pilots in. You're cleared for port side landings, hands on approach."

"Wilco, _Majestic_. Hands on approach."

**Battlestar _Majestic_, Combat Information Center**

In ten minutes, they had landed and were out of their Vipers. They'd won the battle, but at a horrible cost. By the end of the fighting, they'd lost twenty Vipers and two Gunstars, something that they were in desperate need of. The recent reports were coming in that the Fleet's mainline strikecraft, the Viper MK VII was still out of commission. Whatever virus that had shut down the Vipers was much more resilient than the ones that had taken down the Battlestars. And without the Vipers, the Battlestars were at a terrible disadvantage to whatever they came up against. To compensate for their temporary loss of Vipers, the commanders of the fleet were trying desperately to get a hold of Gunstars and other support craft to fill the roll of a screen for the larger ships. While they couldn't screen off the fighters as well as a Viper could, they'd do the job better than nothing. With losing two of the Gunstars and twenty of the operational Vipers left in the battle-group, it left the _Arcadia_ and her fleet at a severe disadvantage. They all knew it, but the war was going poorly for them at this point.

Lee walked through the sliding doors of the CIC to the _Majestic_ and stood a little struck by its inside. His entire career, he'd been in few CICs, but all of them had been old. The _Majestic_, however, was one of the newest ships in the fleet. Instead of the hardwired phones that filled the _Arcadia_ and the older style computers, there was shining new holographic displays that served as the command table. The DRADIS console, instead of four smaller screens that hung over the command table, was a single 3D projected image in the center of the CIC. Each member of the CIC had a small ear piece as well for quick communications from department to department.

"Lieutenant Hawley!" Commander Derek Harper called out to him. His ebony skin was shining with sweat from the previous battle. He beckoned the Lieutenant to enter, and he did. Hawley marched to the Commander and gave him a crisp salute. The Commander returned it, offering out his hand. "We all owe you one, Lieutenant. I don't know if we could have made it out of this one without you and your Vipers' support."

"They're not mine actually, sir, I'm just the one that the others sent up here." He looked around the CIC and back to the Commander. "And it seemed like you handled yourselves quite well against the Raiders out there, sir."

The Commander smiled and took the Lieutenant by the shoulder. "Well if they sent you up here then it means they're yours for now. But the _Majestic's_ not built to take on large swarms of enemy fighters. We just got lucky when they were already committed. They made for easy targets you know? But if they'd been rushing us, our computers would have had one hell of a time getting a solid lock on all of them." The Commander's good spirits changed after a moment. "We took a beating out there, Hawley."

"Yes, sir we did. We lost twenty of our Vipers, another two of them are too damaged to fly as well. That leaves us with eighteen operational Vipers."

"That won't do, Lieutenant." The Commander shook his head as he looked at the command table. The table was lit up with various symbols and numbers. After a few moments of staring, he figured out that it was a tactical layout of the entire sector. He could see where each ship in the Colonial fleet was fighting from here, so long as they were in range, but the layout didn't look good. "They've almost got us cornered, Lieutenant, and without Viper support we're beyond frakked."

You could say that again. "Yes, sir, but they should be getting our Vipers online soon shouldn't they?"

"That's what they've been saying since this damn thing started, but I don't know how long it will take them. The problem is that our fighters were all out during the initial battles. Those that weren't destroyed were shut down, so we have very few working Vipers to even try and patch up." Harper looked down at the command table and sighed as he watched a blue Colonial icon flicker and go out, signaling the loss of another Colonial ship. "We've got to change that."

"How's that, sir?"

"I've got an idea that might buy us a little more time." He placed two of his fingers on the table and swiped hard to the left, making the table disappear and a new one reappear in its place. This one showed a tactical layout of all the resupply points in the outer edges of the Colonies. He pointed to one. "This is Medra. Small little frakked up place with bugs the size of a small dog and an inhospitable jungle that covers the whole damn moon. Cylons tried to use it as a staging ground in the Cylon War, but the marines kicked their asses up one side of the jungle and back down the other."

Lee nodded, not understanding the connection between their situation and the moon. "Yes, sir."

The Commander pursed his lips for a moment as he studied the layout. "There's still marines there." He said after a long while. "The marines don't use MK VIIs in their fighter wings. They use a variant of the MK VI and their own Aegis Fighters. If we could get a hold of them, then we could even the odds for a little bit. Just long enough for us to get the remainder of our Viper Corps back online." Harper touched the screen again and dozens of icons flicked on to represent enemy movements. Seven Baseships were in the area, none of the were at Medra yet, but they could all be there within a single jump. "We've got to go now. Lieutenant, have your pilots ready to fly as soon as possible."

"Aye, sir, we'll be ready. How long do we have?"

"Lieutenant Monroe? How long until the jump drives are spooled?"

"Sixteen minutes, Commander."

"You've got twenty, Lieutenant."

"We'll be ready."

"Good, because I need you flying escort to the Raptors that are going ground side. I have a feeling once we jump into the system that they Cylons are going to be all over us like stink on shit. Get in, get out. That's all we've got to do." The Commander seemed to be talking more to himself than to Lee. "Just get in, and then get out." He repeated again to himself. "Lieutenant, get your birds ready."

**Battlestar _Arcadia_, Strategic Information Center**

"Sir, we've got an incoming burst transmission from the _Majestic_."

"Put it through here." Tapping his headset, the Admiral said. "This is _Arcadia_ Actual, go ahead."

"Admiral, this is _Majestic_ Actual. We've broken the blockade outside Osiris and have recovered your pilots. The _Hellhound_ and _Harbinger_ have been lost with all hands though, sir."

Tyros grimaced at the news. Two more Gunstars lost before they can be brought to bear on the Cylons. "Good work on breaking they Cylons regardless, Commander. We'll see you at the rendezvous point."

"Negative,sir. I've got a priority objective on Medra. We're moving to secure the Marine Air Wing there to supplement our own fighter forces."

The Admiral was about to object, but hesitated. The Fleet was still trying to work around whatever it was that the Cylons did to their Vipers and they were in desperate need of a working fighter screen, even if that may be only a few dozen Vipers. "Understood, Commander. I'm sending the Battlestar _Krios_ to support you."

"Understood, sir. We might need their support if the Cylons come knocking."

"If they do, Commander, then I want you to bug out and get back here."

"Yes, sir."

"Good luck, _Majestic_." The Admiral tapped off his headset and walked to his communications officer. "Ensign, get a message over to the _Krios_ to jump to Medra to support the _Majestic_ in her operation." The Ensign snapped to his work while the Admiral returned to his.

Three hours the message for surrender had been broadcasting, but there'd been to reply from the Cylons, not even a momentary cease fire to consider it. Tyros sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. They were fighting a losing war with no exit plan. He cursed himself for the position they were in. Again, he tapped his headset, but this time it was to his own quarters. "Mister President, they still have yet to respond."

"Could they have not heard it?"

"That would be impossible. We're broadcasting it on every signal and off of every satellite we can find."

There was a very long "So what does this mean?"

The Admiral sighed deeply into his headset. "It means we're in this one for the long haul, Mister President."

"Gods help us then." The President muttered.

**Battlestar _Majestic_, Port Side Hangar Deck**

"Ok everyone. We're heading back out." The pilots were formed into a small semi-circle around him. There wasn't many of them left. From Gold Wing alone, there was only four of them. Sky Eye, Reds, and Rook were the only others that had made it. Those that were left were kneeling or sitting along the crates around them with the others standing around them. They all had deep circles under their eyes, and their demeanor showed that of fatigue and defeat. They'd been through a lot since the war had begun not a day ago, but they weren't done yet. "We've got intel that the Marines on Medra have go a few squadrons of Vipers planet side and we're going to go grab them so that we can even the odds a little bit. We're heading down with the Raptors to provide cover until the Marines can get off the planet and link up with us."

From behind him, the Commander came running with a dozen of the _Majestic's_ pilots, who ran straight to the Raptors and began boarding them. "Lieutenant, we've just received word from the Marines on Medra that a Cylon Baseship engaged the Assualtstar _Razgriz_. We're jumping now, but we don't need your Vipers out in front. Instead, you're to head planet side with your pilots and grab the Vipers and bring them back up."

"What are the Marine pilots doing?" Junior Lieutenant Jake Masev, the fourth survivor from Gold Wing asked. "Shouldn't they just bring them up to us?"

"The Marines have got more birds than pilots, about six squadrons worth of Vipers, but only two squadrons that can be filled by pilots. We need those Vipers, Lieutenant, so select five of your pilots to fly escort and the rest are going down to bring the fighters back up to us."

"Yes, sir. Rook, Sky Eye, Reds, Dozer, and Villain. You're on escort duty. The rest of you load up, we're going down to Medra." The pilots all nodded slowly, but were quick to move to their designated Raptors. "Villain, you're in command up there again. Just cover us in, and we'll up to support you in no time."

"Got it, Lucky, we'll keep you covered."

"One last thing, pilots. The _Razgriz_ was crippled and had to disengage from the fighting, but not before breaking the Baseship's back. The two ships are too wounded to keep fighting, but the Cylons sent down a contingent of Centurions to deal with the Marines that are on the ground now. I don't know what the base commander will have for you, but expect to run at least one ground support mission before you get back up here."

Wacko spoke up. "What about the Marines, sir?"

Harper nodded to him as if he was expecting the question. "They're coming with us. We're abandoning Medra and taking what we can get from there and then bugging out."

The pilots began shuffling onto the Raptors slowly, ten per Raptor until they were all full. "Another frakking planetwide evacuation." Lucky said as he strapped in next to Jackal.

"Yeah but this time we shouldn't leave anyone behind." Many of the pilots were still bitter about how they left Aerilon without some people. They all knew it was implausible to do, but they still felt like they were abandoning the people on the surface.

"We're also running against the clock." Lee replied as the Raptor lurched on the elevator that took them to the Raptor pads on the side of the flight pods.

"How so?"

"There's six more Baseships in jump range of this place."

Jackal tried to spin in his seat, but the restraints caught him. "You're frakking with me."

Lee, shaking his head, said. "Wouldn't dream of it." He placed his head back against the bulkhead of the Raptor to await the _Majestic's_ final jump.

"So it'll be a photo finish then?"

He nodded to Jackal. "Seems like it."

"So much for thinking that this would be an easy one."

"We'd never get that lucky."

"You're name should be Unlucky."

The two men laughed together for a moment. "It probably should." The ship jumped to Medra just then, reappearing only a few moments after the jump. Lee's stomach churned for a moment from the jump, but settled soon after. From where he was sitting, he could see the _Majestic_ and her escorts engage the damaged Baseship. It didn't last long, as the ship was already crippled and after only a single salvo from the _Majestic, Hellfire, _and_ Spitfire._

"If only the whole war could go that way!" One of the _Majestic's_ pilots called out as he highfived the man across from him.

Outside the window, Lee could see twenty Raptors all flying in a tight formation escorted by the five Vipers that he'd ordered out. Their convoy dropped fast down through the atmosphere, making their hulls shin with the heat of reentry. Soon, they were skimming just fifty meters over the tops of the jungle canopy. "Gods, this is the moments that make me realize that I made the right decision not being a marine." He said while looking down on the jungle. The whole place looked nothing but hostile and unforgiving.

The Raptor suddenly veered upwards into a tight vertical lift. From the window, Lee could see the flares deploying from the front just as the missile lock alarm began blaring throughout the ship. The Raptor lurched back downwards into a steep dive, but the lock still sounded all the way up until the missile slammed into the side of the ship. The Raptor spun into a uncontrolled decent so fast that Lee's vision darkened and finally went black.

Even through the darkness and the screeching of the alarms, Lee could hear pilots yelling over the wireless. "Krypter! Krypter! Krypter! We're going down! Cylons are in the jungles! I repeat Cylons are in the jungles!"

Lee gripped his restraints and pressed his head back against the bulkhead of the Raptor. Gods please save us now. The thought hit his mind just as the Raptor crashed through the top of the canopy and slammed into the jungle floor. The Raptor skidded across the muddy ground for more than a dozen meters until it, and everything within it, stopped moving.

**Battlestar _Arcadia_, Strategic Information Center**

The hold that had been put on civilian traffic had frozen thousands of people in space, and he'd taken it upon himself to gather up as many of the ships as he could. As of the present, there was one-hundred and thirty two ships at the rendezvous point. Most were passenger liners or cargo ships, but some were specialized ships that he'd conscripted into the Fleet to extend their range of operations.

The tylium ships had been commandeered from their owners, some not without a little bit of a fight, and pressed into service refueling the Battlestars of the Fleet. Many of the smaller yachts and other civilian vessels were being pressed into service as search and rescue ships to supplement their Raptor force. It was all odd to him, using civilians like this, but at the present time, they had no other choice. They'd still yet to find the President's family, and he feared the worst. Adar would go mad if they were lost, as if he wasn't going mad already. It normally wouldn't be his concern, but there was still a lot of frightened civilians out there that needed a face that they could rally behind and if that face had to be President Richard Adar, then he'd do everything he could to make sure that that face was good for the public eye. "Lieutenant Owens, send out a message to our scouts to keep an eye out for the Ocean's Stars. It's a luxury liner."

The Lieutenant made the necessary calls to get the orders out to the scouts. The thought of the President's family brought another to his mind. Many of the Colonies were being attacked at that moment and civilian casualties were high. _How many?_ He thought. _How many won't see their families again?_This wasn't just a war like the last one they had seen. _This is genocide._ Reports from surviving ships were that the Cylons were systematically wiping out the Colonies via orbital bombardment. The initial hacks on their defense mainframe had left them in a weakened state, but their ships were recovering. Without their Vipers, however, they were still at a disadvantage. Even if they did get their Vipers back online how many of them would be left?

The Admiral took up the last list of surviving ships in the Colonial Fleet. Here, in this fall back point, there was thirty-two Battlestars and forty-seven escort ships of various classes. Fleet Admiral Nagala was known to be regrouping with another fleet at a separate point with a force roughly the same size as his own._Would it be enough?_ _Would this fraction of the Colonial Fleet be enough to save them from genocide?_

"Sir, reports coming in from the _Majestic_." Lieutenant Owens reported, breaking the Admiral from his thoughts.

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Initial reports are that they've neutralized the Baseship above the moon, but the Cylons were able to deploy a sizeable Centurion contingent to the surface. Marines are fully engaged across the base perimeter. They're being pushed, but they'll hold, sir."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Yes, sir." The Lieutenant seemed hesitant to speak, but did so anyway. "They presently have two Raptors down and haven't been able to reestablish wirless contact with them. They're assuming that they've gone down with all hands. Twenty pilots a piece, sir. Also, the Majestic is reporting that they'll have to root out the Cylon anti-air batteries before they can get the Vipers back to orbit."

"They don't have that frakking long. Tell them to bombard the entire area from orbit."

"Sir, the downed Raptors would be caught in the area."

"I know, but we need those Vipers now. Send the order." He didn't like it, but they'd have to sacrifice some good pilots to get those Vipers off the ground. _In the long run, you're saving more lives than your losing._

"Aye, sir. Sending the order now, the bombardment should begin within the hour."

"Understood, Lieutenant." He uttered a silent prayer for the souls that might have survived down there. For if they were still alive, then they'd need divine intervention, or a good spot of luck, to survive what was coming after them. "Lords help them if they are down there."

* * *

As always please leave a review for me!


	4. Chapter 4

**Misfits: Chapter Four**

_The cool night air breezed across his face as he walked down the sandy beach. He wiggled his bare toes in the sand with each step he took to savor the feeling. It would be the last time he felt sand in a long time, or a breeze for that matter. Life aboard a Battlestar was exciting, but there was nothing like the real physical world in all her beauty. _

_Lee raised his Aerilon brew to his mouth and sucked the cool liquid from the bottle. He liked time to himself as he didn't get much of it; not between the Fleet and his home life_, _especially since his daughter's arrival. A blessing she was, but she made one hell of a racket. _She gets it from you._ His fiancée had said it a dozen times before. Maybe she did. It's not such a bad thing to be a little wild. _

_Finishing the brew, he tossed the bottle to the beach and stripped back his flowered tropical shirt and tossed his shorts aside. It was the last time he'd be swimming for Gods knew how long, might as well make the most of it. He walked to the water's edge and tested it with this foot. It was colder than he expected, but it should be cold that time of the year. He took another step into the water before he heard his name being called out. "Lee!" He turned to see Ellie coming his way from the small party they were having at the bar there. She finished her drink and tossed the glass aside lazily before stripping back her shirt and shorts to reveal the blue bikini. _

_She sauntered up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him right on the water's edge. The moon shone off of the dark seawater as he pulled her in tight to his body. He held her for another long moment before stepping back from her and taking her hand, guiding her closer to the ocean. The two waded deeper into the cold Aerilon water, but neither shied away from it. Once knee deep, Lee grabbed his fiancée by the legs and swooped her into his arms, making her yelp with surprise. She laughed as he held her in his arms and fell backward into the sea, submerging them both. _

_When they came up, she splashed him and jumped back on top of him_, _taking him under one more time. Lee only laughed and scooped her into his arms one more time and this time, instead of dunking her, he kissed her passionately as they floated in the water. He carried her out of the water to the edge where there were two towels laid out from earlier. He set her down gently and dropped down to the ground, leaning back on his elbows. She leaned her head back onto his lap, using him as a pillow. She looked up to him after a long silence. "I love you, Lee." _

_He smiled down at her as he brushed a lock of her hair out of her face. "And I love you, Ellie, more than anything." And he meant it. _

"_I'm going to miss you," she said_, _sitting up to face him. He kissed her again, more softly this time and held his lips close to hers. _

"_I'll miss you too, love," he said quietly and kissed her yet again. "I'll be thinking of you." _

"_I don't want you to leave." _

"_I know," he said_, _looking down to the sand. "One more cruise, and then I can come home to you and Alison." _

"_Promise me we'll come back to Aerilon. Start a family?" She was almost begging him_, _and he could see it in her eyes. He wanted to tell her that he would but couldn't find the words. His thoughts became clouded and a sharp piercing pain shot through his head. His body began pulsing with pain now , but he didn't know why. He looked to Ellie, whose face became distorted. "Lee?" The voice wasn't hers, but he could see her speaking to him. She began shaking him_,_and his body convulsed with pain again. "Lee!" The voice was louder_, _and the Aerilon beach began to disappear into a sea of darkness. "Lee! Wake the frak up!" _

**Planet Medra, Raptor 111 Crash Site**

"Lee! Wake the frak up!" Garrett shook him hard against his restraints when his eyes finally fluttered open. "Thank the Lords." He breathed out a sigh of relief as Lee coughed his way back into consciousness. His body hurt like it never had before, and he wished that he could go back into his dream. "Come on, buddy. We got to get the frak out of here." Garrett ripped the straps back and pulled his friend from the downed Raptor.

Lee could barely see, and the bright Medran sun didn't help the fact, further blinding him as he left the Raptor. Jackal dropped him down heavily next to one of the fallen trees. It took him another thirty seconds to regain his bearings and remember what had happened. Their Raptor had taken anti-aircraft fire from the Cylons down below and had crashed deep within the jungle. Immediately, with a surge of adrenaline, his body's pains were temporarily forgotten. His SERE training kicked in as he ran through the essentials that they would need to survive.

The pilot stumbled back to the Raptor and tore into the survival kits on one of the walls. Two med-kits were the first thing he found, pulling them out and tossing them to the side. He quickly scanned the rest of the Raptor with Jackal and found two CX4 Storm Rifles with ammunition for each. They each took one, and Lee threw his across his back with the sling. They moved on and continued to collect the things that they would need to survive.

After a few minutes of scavenging, he came out and dropped what they'd found on the ground near the crash site. Four other pilots had survived and, the rest had died on impact. The survivors, Reds, Baby, Rook, and a pilot from the _Majestic_ that he had come to know as Hoppie, were all that had made it. "Break up this gear into even loads. We need to get moving now. The Cylons should be all over this area soon. Who knows how to shoot?" Lee asked.

Rook raised his hand, and Lee passed off his rifle to the man. He wasn't about to pretend that he was the best shot in the group. Jackal, whose accuracy skills were less than his, passed his rifle off to Hoppie. "Can't shoot for shit. Make sure you kill something with that."

"Will do, Ell-Tee," Hoppie, a small woman and a rookie pilot, said with a grin.

Lee hefted one of the med-kits and took his side arm from its holster. "Hoppie, jump on point. Let's just head toward the gunfire" The pilot jogged ahead of the four as they began moving toward the sound of combat. He had no doubt that the Marines on the ground and the Centurions had already met and were having at one another right now. From the sounds of it, the fighting was fierce. _Another reason I'm glad I'm not a Marine_.

The jungle was hot and muggy just like he figured it would be, and the ground was thick with mud that would suck his boots down with each step. How anyone or anything survived here was beyond his knowledge. Every now and again, a rocket would fire off near them, signaling that the Cylon anti-air defenses were in place. "Hoppie! Hold up. Rook, bring me the wireless," he called out to her once they'd reach the top of a small hill. The portable wireless that Rook was lugging around on his back was useless at the crash site with all the trees interfering, but he figured that he might get a signal up a little higher.

Jackal dropped the med-kit he was carrying and started to step away from the group. "I'm going for a piss. Don't leave without me."

Lucky shook his head as his friend disappeared into the jungle. "He's crude, but you might get used to him," he said to Reds who stood nearby.

"Just a Misfit, isn't he?" she said with a sly smile. So, they were still infamous throughout the Fleet. At least one thing hadn't changed.

"Exactly." He looked the wireless over to make sure it wasn't damaged, which it wasn't. The only time that the machine would be used would be in the event of a crash, so it was designed to be rugged and durable. He tapped the power settings, and the machine came to life. "This is Lieutenant Lee Hawley to any Colonial forces in range. Please respond."

He waited for a reply but got nothing aside from static. He repeated his message yet again on a new frequency, but this time received a response. "Lieutenant Hawley, this is Colonel Obadiah Hadrian out of Medra Marine outpost. Identify yourself."

"Colonel Hadrian, I say again this is Lieutenant Lee Hawley of the 213th Misfit Viper Squadron from the Battlestar _Arcadia_. Our Raptor was shot down, and we're requesting a pick up."

"That's a negative, Lieutenant. We've got heavy anti-air presence in the area. No way for a Raptor to get in there. Ground teams are fully engaged as well. You're going to have to hump it back."

"Frak." A rocket flared from the jungle not a kilometer away from them. "Medra Actual, what if we neutralized the anti-air in the area could you send in a bird to pick us up, then?"

"They've got batteries spread across the whole damn sector."

"If we took out one, then it'd give the Raptor a clear corridor for an approach, so long as he stayed low enough."

"If you could take the battery out then we might be able to get you out." There was a break in the wireless traffic. "Lieutenant, we're receiving word that the _Majestic_ is about to frag that entire area."

"What?"

"We can't wait much longer, and we can't pinpoint the batteries, so they're bringing down enough firepower to level half the moon. Strike package is due to come down in forty-six minutes."

Hawley looked down to his watch and set a timer for forty-six minutes. "If we get an Emergency Airfield tag on the battery, could you direct the _Majestic_ for a pinpoint strike?" There was a silence across the wireless for a time, and he thought for a moment that they'd lost the connection.

However, the wireless crackled to the life again, shelving his fears. "It won't delay the strike, but _Majestic_ says she could do that, Lieutenant."

"Worth a shot," he said off the communications. "Understood, we'll have that beacon on the target in place soon. Have a Raptor waiting for us."

"Will do, Lieutenant. Good luck."

A scream came from the edge of the jungle, prompting the group to level their weapons. Lee tossed the wireless to the side and slipped behind a small fallen branch as he leveled his sidearm in the direction of the scream. "Oh, shit!" It was Jackal, and from what they could hear, he was tearing through the jungle back to them.

The others were already in position, rifles and sidearms aimed in the same direction. "Whatever comes through there, open up and don't stop firing until it's gone."

The four pilots all gave a silent confirmation that they were ready to face the Cylons. Jackal was still blundering through the jungle, and finally burst through several vines and fell to the ground before them.

Scrambling to his feet, the pilot reached for his weapon. "Shoot it! Shoot the damn thing!" His voice was hysterical as he crawled away from his attacker. The pilots all held their position, but Lee could see the fear on their faces. They weren't Marines. They weren't trained to face a Centurion in ground combat. "Shoot the frakker!" Jackal finally made it to his feet and stood with his sidearm raised.

From the same vines, a large, hideous bug emerged. It was the size of a small dog and resembled a beetle or a cockroach. Jackal screamed again and squeezed his trigger but missed wide before ducking behind a tree. The bug crept closer to the pilots, making them all take a step back. It didn't look dangerous in any way, but that didn't mean he wanted it near them.

Lee stepped closer to it and fired his weapon into it several times. The bug splattered across the ground and died with a hiss.

Jackal stood up and sighed. "Thank the frakking Gods. I hate bugs, man. That thing is going to give me nightmares for the rest of my life." Jackal sat down onto a branch to regain his composure as the other three pilots stared at him.

Lucky began laughing at the situation. He started laughing so hard that tears began forming in his eyes and he collapsed to his knees. The others were laughing now too, and Jackal looked at them like they were insane. "It's not funny, man. That frakking thing could have killed me!"

"Jackal, we're in the middle of a war against a race of genocidal machines who are hunting us through a jungle after we've been shot down, and you're worried about an overgrown cockroach?"

Jackal's face reddened. "I hate bugs."

The others were still laughing at the situation. _It's good to see them laughing, _Lucky thought while still chuckling. It was a good distraction for what they were facing, which in all reality was that they were going to die.

"Jackal, you should keep this up, because you're making Baby look like a badass!" Hawley's laughter subsided, and he regained control. The others continued to laugh, and Baby only shook his head, but there was a smile on the pilot's face that he hadn't seen since the attack had come.

"Frak you all! Let's just get moving!" Garrett grumbled, picking up the med-kit he had taken.

**Battlestar **_**Majestic**_**, Combat Information Center**

"Commander, the _Krios_ has just made her jump in the system. They're standing by for support." Harper nodded to his operations officer as the report was made. They'd have only a few hours before the Cylons realized that they'd lost their Baseship over Medra and send reinforcements.

"Lieutenant, have the _Krios_ push out another two hundred kilometers to improve our DRADIS range." That would put the ship near the planet's gravity well where the Cylons would make their jump into the system. "Tell them if they make contact they are to retreat and link up with us. They're not to engage a superior Cylon force."

"Aye, sir."

The DRADIS showed the Battlestar _Krios_ begin moving to the outer edge of Medra's space, and the Commander, satisfied with the _Krios'_ movements, turned his attention back to the planet's surface. The situation on Medra had gone south from the moment the Raptors had entered the atmosphere.

Two Raptors had been taken out upon approach, one taking the missile to her fuselage and killing all aboard and the other crash landing Gods knew where down there. Colonel Hadrian sent him a burst message from the planet's surface not twenty minutes before, telling them they'd made contact with the downed pilots. He cursed himself for the position he was in, but he knew that he had to bring down the bombardment on Medra. With those anti-air batteries filling the jungles, there would be no way for the Vipers to break through the atmosphere. They'd be picked apart by the anti-air before they made it out of the base.

He only wished he could pinpoint the batteries so that he could destroy them without risking the pilots down below. Gods knew they needed every available pilot that they could get, and he might be a little biased, but he was getting to like Lieutenant Hawley's company. He and his pilots had saved their lives, so he figured he'd do his best to save the Lieutenant. He couldn't delay the bombardment long, but he'd do what he could to hold it off.

Tapping the command table and bringing up the countdown timer, he adjusted the time, adding another thirty minutes to the clock. If they weren't done by then he would bring the bombardment down upon them.

Aside from losing pilots, the reports of marine casualties were high as well. The Cylons had landed significantly more troops to the ground than they'd initially expected, which was one more reason that they needed to get into the air to secure air superiority to push the Cylons back. Their whole plan hinged on the Vipers getting airborne, and if they didn't, then the Marines would surely all die.

**Battlestar **_**Arcadia**_**, Refugee Area**

Ellie tugged off her heels and tossed them carelessly aside. Her feet hurt from wearing the same heels for more than a day straight. Their whole situation was turning into a nightmare the more she thought about it, and that was all she had to do recently. In the refugee area, as the marines and officers who came about to distribute supplies called it, they received regular updates from a small radio that a crewman had brought in a few hours before.

"_Reports are coming in from across the Colonies that President Adar has offered a full unconditional surrender of all Colonial assets. Thus far_, _we've received no reports on the talks between the Cylons and the President, but since the hostilities have not ceased, we're skeptical to believe that this war will end in another armistice. _

"_From the reports that we've been receiving from the military, the Cylons were able to launch a massive surprise assault upon our forces. In the early hours of the war, there was nothing but defeat after defeat. However, we've received a few success stories from the military. Ships over Aerilon were able to turn back the Cylons and destroy several enemy ships as well as launch a massive relief effort onto the planet's surface. Ships over Canceron also decimated a group of Cylon ships that were attempting to destroy several civilian merchant ships. Still we are receiving reports of the Colonial Military fighting back across our worlds. _

"_We go now to the update on civilian casualty lists. Nuclear devices have been confirmed to be detonated over the Colonies of Picon, Caprica, Canceron, Aerilon and Tuaron." _Ellie's stomach churned, and she turned away from the radio and walked away. She'd heard enough.

Yasmina followed her and placed her hand on Ellie's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Ellie shook her head. "No, I hate this."

"We all do."

"I can't just sit here and listen to these horror stories all day."

"There isn't anything we can do, Ellie."

Ellie shook her head. She couldn't just sit around, and she wouldn't. The worst was thinking back to her daughter, Alison. She'd spent every second of her free time thinking of her. They'd been on a ship leaving for Picon on the day of the attack, and she had no way of knowing if the ship and her daughter were safe. _You should have stayed with her_. Ellie thought to herself solemnly. _You should have stay with your daughter instead of leaving her to your sister's care._

She corrected herself then. No, there was no way that she could have known what was going to happen. Her sister was a good mother to her own children and there is no reason that she should take good care of her sister's daughter. It was just torture not knowing where her daughter was.

The sound from the overhead speakers boomed over the deck breaking Ellie from her thoughts. "All medical staff prepare to receive wounded."

Raptors came down from the topside hangar deck, and when the hatches opened, wounded were pulled out from each of them. She made her way closer to the area that they were being held and grimaced at the sight of the injured men and women. There were far too many wounded for the doctors and nurses to handle, and she got an idea. "I'm going to help," she said to Yasmina.

"What?" Yasmina asked.

Ellie didn't answer but pushed through the gathering crowd to the nearest injured man. When she got closer, she almost wished that she hadn't. His throat gushed blood as he had been hit with a piece of shrapnel. A doctor, currently working on another man a few meters from her, called out to her. "Plug that wound!" he yelled to her. "Stop the damned bleeding, and I'll be right over!"

Ellie looked down to the man who rolled with pain. She never liked the sight of blood, and the idea of putting her fingers in someone's open wound was something she would rather not do. _You wanted to help, _she thought to herself. _And this is how you're going to do it_.

She placed two fingers onto the hole that had been torn in his flesh. The warm blood seeped past her fingers, and she set her entire hand on the wound to try and slow the bleeding. The man glanced up to her with a pleadingly look as if to beg her not to let him die. "You're going to be okay. The doctor is on his way. Just stay with me a little longer."

The man seemed to calm a little as she spoke to him, but she knew what he was thinking. If the doctor didn't get there soon then he'd surely die. "Doctor!" she called out, and the man came running to her.

"Keep pressure on the wound!" he said as he began his work. It didn't seem to bother him that she wasn't one of his nurses as he continued to call out orders to her to keep the man alive. Finally, the doctor stabilized the man enough to move on to the next patient. "I'll need your help, if you're willing to give it."

Ellie thought for a moment on what she had been just offered. She had no medical experience whatsoever, but this was her chance to help. Nodding, she followed after the doctor. "I'll help."

"Good," he said without even turning to look to her. "Just stay with me, and do exactly as I say."

Giving nothing but a nod of confirmation, they got to working saving lives.

**Battlestar **_**Arcadia**_**, Strategic Information Center**

"Sir, I've got an updated status on the Battlegroup." Lieutenant Ryan Owen reported stepping up to the command tables.

Tyros nodded to the Lieutenant as he finished looking over the lists of the civilian ships they'd recovered. There were around one-hundred-and-eighty-six of them, a dozen of which were luxury liners such as the _Ocean's Stars_, but none of them were actually the _Ocean's Stars, _the ship that the President's family was aboard. He wasn't looking forward to telling the President that his family was still not accounted for. The man had shown signs of cracking under the pressure that the war had placed on him. He'd been on the phone with every remaining government official since the outbreak, but they were slowly being picked off one by one. The Vice President and the Joint Chiefs had all been taken out when the Cylons had hit Caprica, and the cabinet was slowly shrinking. Without his family, Tyros figured that it would only be a matter of time before he snapped and went insane. "Go ahead, Ryan."

The Lieutenant nodded. "We've got thirty-two Battlestars, twenty- six Gunstars, and twenty-one Strikestars. Vipers are still inoperable from the virus. As of right now, the only Vipers that are capable of flying are the trainers that are with the Majestic, and two additional squadrons of training ships from the Battlestars _Vanguard_ and _Halifax_. We're still working on the problem, but the virus hit our Vipers much harder than it hit our ships."

"We need those Vipers," Tyros said to the Lieutenant, who only nodded to him. "Send these reports back to Admiral Nagala, and tell him we're on our way to the rendezvous."

"Aye, sir," the Lieutenant said and stepped off to begin her work. "We should be linking up with the _Atlantia_ and her battle-group in one hour."

An hour came and went, and the _Arcadia_ and her fleet made the jump to Nagala's position. On the DRADIS console, there were dozens more military vessels but only a few civilian. It seemed Nagala was more worried about gathering what was left of the Fleet rather than protecting the civilians. "Have the deck crews ready a Raptor and inform the _Atlantia_ that I'm headed over."

Tyros made his way to the hangar deck where a Raptor already waited for him. Normally, he'd have a Viper escort with his Raptor as well, but this time they'd have to do without. The flight from the _Arcadia_ was short but enough time for him to see the Fleet with his own eyes.

The remaining Battlestars of the Fleet were largely damaged and scarred from recent combats. Almost every ship the Colonials had was attacked in the Cylons opening assault. One ship he passed, the Battlestar _Kittyhawk_, had one of her flightpods gutted out from what had to have been a nuclear missile strike. It wasn't a pretty sight_— _none of it was.

The _Atlantia_, a Nova-Class Battlestar, was the flagship of the entire Colonial Fleet now that Admiral Corman had been killed over Picon at the Fleet HQ. The massive Battlestar had a few scorch marks on her, but she looked to be fairing the best out of all of them, probably because at the time of the attacks the entire 3rd Fleet was around her_. How many of those ships fell before the Cylons were pushed back_, he wondered as the Raptor touched down. Exiting the Raptor, Tyros found the hangar much like his own_—_in total chaos. Sighing, Tyros made his way for Nagala's wardroom.

**Planet Medra **

Lee cursed the situation. They were pilots, not marines. They shouldn't have been down here, they shouldn't be trying to mark Cylon anti-air batteries from the ground, and they shouldn't be preparing to attack a ground position from the ground.

The recon of the Cylon position showed that they had indeed found the Cylon anti-air for this area. It was a single launcher surrounded by eight Centurions. For a squad of marines, he figured this wouldn't be a problem, but again, they were a group of pilots with a pair of rifles and an EAF beacon.

The six of them sat in a semi-circle near a fallen tree. "Okay, Hoppie and Rook will take the high ground near the rear of the battery. They've got the rifles, so they should be able to lay down a little bit of cover fire for us. Baby and I will be taking the EAF beacon in as close as we can so that we can toss it in there for the _Majestic_ to frag to high heaven. Reds, I want you to stay back behind with the wireless and direct in the _Majestic_ so she doesn't fire too soon and kill us all. Once we get that frakking beacon onto the battery, everyone get your heads down and wait for the bombs to hit. When they do, Reds, make sure you get a line back to the marines to get a Raptor in here to us."

The pilots all nodded to him as he gave out their orders. His plan sounded like it would work, but what did he know? He was just a pilot.

"Who's going to be placing the beacon?" Jackal asked.

"Baby, how's your arm?" Since the beginning of the whole war, Baby had seemed to grow up a little. No longer did he really see that innocent baby face that he had before, but rather a darker, sadder face.

"I played Pyramid in high school."

"Good enough. Baby's on the beacon."

"Roger that," Thompson said and took the small EAF beacon, slipping it into his side pocket to take care of it.

"Okay, everyone we're going to get one shot at this. Don't get killed trying to do something crazy. The _Majestic_ will do the heavy lifting if we can just get this frakking beacon in place."

It took them another ten minutes to move into position. Hoppie and Rook were on the small ridge just above them, Reds had stayed behind to cover the wireless, and Baby, Jackal and himself were all slowly crawling up to the Cylon position. The machines were loading a new pair of missiles onto the anti-air battery when they crested the hill and peered down onto their position. Currently, there was four of the Cylons occupied with load duty, two were at the controls to the battery and another two patrolled the area.

Lucky pointed down to the ones who were patrolling and hoped that the two on overwatch would take them out. The three pilots all had their sidearms out and had them primed with explosive rounds. Lucky took careful aim at one of the Cylons laboring to load the missiles. His cross hairs lined up on the machine's body, and he wondered for a moment what would happen if he hit the missile with an explosive round? Would it explode and take out the entire area for them without even needing the _Majestic_? He decided it wasn't worth the risk and readied his sidearm.

Slowly, he squeezed the trigger and fired the round at the Cylon. It missed to the left, but caught one of the Cylons on the far side in the leg, tearing it off completely. The entire area erupted with gunfire as the rest of the pilots opened up. Two of the machines manning the battery went down without a fight as Baby and Jackal took them, and the other two patrolling made for cover as Rook and Hoppie opened up on them.

Lee quickly slipped another explosive round into its chamber and went up to take a shot but was forced back into cover as a Centurion fired his arm mounted weapon at him. Cursing, he rolled over and made for a different place he could fire from. He popped out from his new position and fired, taking off one of the Cylon's arms. "Baby! Toss the beacon!"

Baby nodded, rolling over onto his back to fish out the small orb. Getting into a low crouch, Baby jumped up and threw the beacon as hard as he could. The small beacon flew through the air but was caught by some vines and fell short. Baby cursed loudly enough to be heard over the firefight. At that range, the missile might still take out the battery, but more likely than not, it would frag their entire side and miss the Cylons completely.

"I'm moving!" Baby yelled and jumped over his cover, sprinting for the beacon.

"Baby, no!" Hawley yelled and jumped out of his cover after him.

Baby was a good fifteen meters ahead of him, and there would be no way he could catch him before he reached the beacon, so he slid into cover near a tree and fired his sidearm as fast as he could at the Cylons. Baby's movements seemed to be shadowed by a constant stream of fire. Small tuffs of dirt and mud were thrown up by the Cylon's rounds hitting the ground around him. Baby charged headlong into the fire and didn't flinch at it. The Cylons all shifted their fire to him, but none could seem to hit him. Finally, Baby dove to the ground and fetched the beacon, and without breaking step, rolled to his feet and launched the beacon again at the battery. This time the orb rolled under the massive launcher near the Cylons.

Rook fired off his flare to signal to Reds that the beacon was in place, and Hawley could only hope that Baby would make it out before the _Majestic_ brought down her strike package. He watched as Baby bobbed and weaved his way back through the Cylons' bullets. Lee lined up his weapon and fired at one of the Cylons and dropped it with several standard rounds to the chest.

Baby was no more than ten meters from their position when a round struck his left shoulder. The man stumbled forward and staggered before collapsing into the mud. Without thinking, Lee jumped out of his cover and sprinted for his pilot. Baby had rolled over by the time he reached him and was firing sidearm at the enemy. Lee grabbed him and began dragging him backward from the firefight when he heard Reds' voice call out to him.

"Lucky! Missile coming down!" she yelled.

When he looked up, he saw the missile streaking through the sky to the Cylon position. He dropped Baby and dove atop him, covering both of their heads. The missile hit a second later. The sound of the blast deafened as the heat wave blew over them, making his neck prickle with small blisters. The shockwave from the blast sent debris flying.

When it all had subsided, Lee sat up to check on Baby. "Baby," he rolled him over to look at the wound in his shoulder. "You good?" The gunshot didn't look too bad, and he figured that it wouldn't cause him too many problems on the way back to the base.

"I'm fine," Baby replied, wincing as he touched the wound.

"You're batshit insane, Baby," Lee said with a grin. "We might just make a Misfit out of you yet."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I want**—** to be a Misfit." Baby laughed despite the agony he was in.

Lee guffawed as Reds dropped one of the med-kits down to the ground near him,and the two began cleaning and patching the wound. _Maybe_. He thought. _Maybe we'll make a Misfit out of you_.


End file.
